The One He Needed
by GavinsGirl
Summary: AU: Christine Brennan's life changed forever that day. She refused to be a victim & wouldn't let him believe he was at fault. Jay had blown an undercover operation, bringing the Cartel back to Chicago. He had a target on his back & would die trying to protect her. But, she would show him she didn't need protection. She would be the woman he always needed. WARNING: Difficult Content
1. I Won't Be Home For Christmas

It was December 23rd and I was sitting in one of those god-awful uncomfortable chairs at gate H-18 in Terminal 3 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, really angry I was most likely going to have to call my Dad to let him know I wasn't going to make it home to Boston for Christmas. Here I was, stranded, due to some freak blizzard that was continuing to drop an inch of snow an hour in Chicago, Boston and everywhere in between. The storm, according to the meteorologists, had no plans of letting up soon. The roads were so bad I couldn't chance it and rent a car either. Not only was I going to miss Christmas, I was going to miss our annual tradition of Christmas Eve Mass and then having dinner at the restaurant of my choice to celebrate my birthday, which is Christmas Eve. It has been something we have done together every year since my Mom passed away. I was an only child and it crushed me that I wasn't going to make it home. I pulled out my cell phone and called my Dad. I traveled enough for a living, as my Dad did for pleasure since he had retired a few years before, so we both knew the chances of flight's being cancelled during the winter due to weather. He understood and I think he was more concerned about me than he was about spending Christmas alone. "Dad, really. I'll be fine. I promise. I mean there's been so much snow that has come down there is no chance in hell I'll make it back to my apartment anytime soon. There are currently no taxi's, ubers or lyfts servicing Chicago. Someone said that the "L" has been shut down too. This storm is out of control. Good thing I was just bringing a carryon on the plane with me. I can at least freshen up a little later if I can't get home tonight. Not that the thought of staying in the airport overnight excites me in the slightest. I'm only fifteen miles, a mere thirty minutes, from my own bed and I have the feeling I'll be sleeping in the airport tonight. And you should see it Dad. This place is insane right now. There's so many people. The restaurants and bars are absolutely packed. I didn't have a chance to eat since breakfast and it's 6:00pm here so I'm going to see if I can at least get a seat so I can get something to eat. I'm starving." I told him. "Christine, are you sure? I don't like the thought of you at the airport overnight by yourself. If you can get out of there and get home it would make me feel a lot better. Yes, I know you're a smart young woman who can take care of herself but it would definitely make me feel better if I knew you were safe at home." he replied.

After promising to text my Dad in a couple of hours to let him know if I made it home or if I was still stuck in the airport I headed to the Publican Tavern in the terminal hoping I would find a seat at the bar. I somehow lucked out and got the last empty seat at the end of the bar. After ordering a glass of wine I looked at the menu and decided on a burger and fries for dinner. As I sipped on my glass of wine I noticed two gentlemen, seated at a nearby table, who looked a little shady. I was a General Manager of an upscale boutique hotel in downtown Chicago so I tend to notice people who look out of place or like they were up to something. I couldn't put my finger on it but one of them was sweating profusely and the other one kept looking side to side. When the bartender delivered my food I asked if there was a manager who I could speak with. I was definitely not getting a good feeling from these two men and I wanted someone else to be aware of their presence. The manager, a really good-looking guy in his early – mid thirties with brown eyes, brown hair and a growing beard, came over and asked if everything was okay with my food and the service. After telling him my concerns I was surprised he quickly brushed me off by telling me he would check on them and to enjoy my meal. Without approaching their table I watched him walk over to a corner table where a couple sat and he leaned over to talk to them. Whatever, I thought to myself. I wouldn't be hiring him to work at any of the restaurants in my hotel. I decided to double check and see if the El was definitely not running. If it was I would make the hour trip home by public transportation. Before I finished eating I noticed two more people had joined the table the Restaurant Manager had stopped by earlier. I was starting to get a really uncomfortable feeling so I quickly asked for my check and threw down some cash.

I reached the entrance of the restaurant at the same time the as two men. Behind us I heard a gruff voice yell "Chicago PD. Stop right there Ramon. We have you surrounded." Before I knew what was happening the guy with the shifty eyes grabbed me, turned us around to face the voice and put a gun to my head. He said "Nice try Voight, but your mistake was trying to grab me here. I may not be able to get on a flight at the moment, but I do have this cute little thing as my hostage. I know you're not going to make me kill this beautiful white girl now are you?" he said as he backed us out of the restaurant. "You know Voight," he continued "there's just more than me and Rico in the airport today. Who says I don't have guns on you right now? You tell your people to put their guns down while me and red here go for a nice walk and get to know each other a little better" he finished as he kissed my forehead. "You know I can't let you do that, Ramon. We don't want anyone to get hurt here today. Why don't you let her go and you and I can go for a walk together?" the man Ramon referred to as Voight said. "Are you okay, miss? Just stay calm and we'll get you out of here shortly." he finished. I couldn't say a word. I was completely frozen. I kept trying to tell myself in my head I was going to be okay. I refused to die today. Not the day before my thirtieth birthday. Not two days before Christmas. Not until I found someone for my Dad to spend the rest of his life with. I had too much going for me. "I think I'm going to keep red here and take her with me when I leave the country." Ramon said "What do you think Voight? Do you think she'll like living with me in Colombia? I think she will. Tho she is a little too gringo so I'm not sure if she will understand the language. What do you say red? Do you understand Spanish, eres un buen pedazo de culo?" he said licking the side of my neck all the way up my face. I'm still terrified but this guy makes me want to vomit at the same time I kick him in the balls. "Personally, asshole, I always thought my breasts were better than my ass. If you refer to me as a fine piece of ass or touch me with that disgusting smelling mouth of yours forget about them shooting you I'll kick your ass myself. Please shoot him and get him the fuck off of me" I yelled. "Hahahaha! I picked a feisty one. I'm gonna have some fun breaking you baby!" he said as he dragged me further back.

I looked to both sides noticing the section of the terminal we were in had been cleared of all passengers and airport employees. The rest of the customers who had been eating and drinking in the Publican had been escorted out the employee entrance. It was me, Ramon, Rico and a bunch of cops. "Halstead. Do you have a shot?" I heard Voight ask. I couldn't hear the response but saw Voight shake his head to the other three cops next to him. "Ramon, let's talk about this. We don't want anyone to get hurt today. Why don't you let her go and you and I will chat?" "You must think I'm fucking stupid Voight. Let me tell you this. Whatever happens now isn't going to be the end of it. There's more people in the airport and you know the Cartel won't let you push them out of our city." he said, laughing almost taunting the cops. "Please let me go. I don't want any part of this. I have nothing to do with this." I begged crying. He tapped the gun against my forehead again and laughed at me. He whispered in my ear, "I'm almost done with you sweetheart but I'm not letting you go." He then said "Voight, I'm going to kill red here and set off the bomb in the airport unless you do three things for me. The first is you get a plow out there to clear off the runway. I want a Cessna C560 Citation Encore fueled up and attached to the jetway of Gate H-9. I want a clear path out of O'Hare. No cops or military jets anywhere in nearby airspace. I also want a million dollars loaded onto the plane by your very own sniper, Detective Jay Halstead. Lastly, I want Detective Halstead, the one who blew your entire undercover operation, on the plane waiting for me. If all of that happens, and Halstead is unarmed, I'll let red here go after Rico and I have a little fun with her." "Some of that I can do for you Ramon, but it's going to take a little time. I'm also not letting you take Halstead. He wasn't responsible for your sister's death. You know that Ramon. He did not shoot Mariana. She was high on the drugs you gave her when she got into a fight in that bar." "Shut up! Don't you mention my sister's name. Get me what I want Voight or red here dies along with everyone else near the bomb I planted." he yelled. Ramon dragged me back, even further until we were now standing in the doorway of the Admiral's Club. I knew, if he pulled me thru that door I was going to be raped, beaten and killed before the cops met his demands. Dear God, I thought closing my eyes, please get me out of this...please help me...I don't want to die. I didn't realize I had said the words out loud until I heard a new voice say "It's going to be okay. I'm here Ramon. Let the girl go." I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful man with hard green eyes standing ten feet in front of me. "Back up Halstead! Don't come any closer or I will shoot her!" Ramon yelled as he pulled me inside of the Admiral's Lounge. Before he could close the door he yelled "You have one hour to meet my demands and then red's death, Voight, is on you and Halstead!"


	2. Stronger Than I Look

"Ruzek, find out who the hostage is! I want any and all personal information you can get on her. Make sure she has no Cartel ties and this isn't some sort of set-up. Halstead, get away from the door now! Al, start working on his demands. Antonio, find out if there is a back way into the Admiral's Lounge. I want to get her out of there in one piece before he hurts her. Kim, I want you and Atwater to go with the bomb squad to check the entire terminal. Make sure their dogs cover every inch of this place. Hailey, I want you to get with airport security and the bomb squad. Make sure they cover the rest of the airport. There's no way I'm letting a bomb go off in O'Hare two days before Christmas." Hank Voight barked out orders to his team. "Sarge, let me go in there. I'll convince him to let her go. I'll take her place. I can't let another innocent girl die." Jay Halstead pleaded with his Sargent. "Halstead, you heard what I said. You were not the reason Mariana died that day. She chose her brother's side...the side of the Cartel. I need you to look at the layout of the airport and see if you have a vantage point to take a shot, if needed, between the Admiral's Club and Gate H-9. I want you set and ready to go in case I give the green light." Voight told his detective. As he watched Halstead walk away, Al Olinsky walked up to Voight and asked "Is the kid going to be okay? He hasn't recovered from Lindsay leaving or the undercover Cartel assignment these past few months." "He will be. Where do we stand on the plane and the money?" Voight replied. As Al informed Voight the plows were already out on the runway and the plane was being fueled, Adam Ruzek approached with information on the hostage. "Sarge, our hostage's name is Christine Brennan. She'll be 30 tomorrow. Originally from Boston and living in Chicago the past three years. She's the General Manager of the Beacon Hotel. She's worked for the hotel company since she graduated from Cornell University working her way up through the company advancing faster than any other GM in company. She rents an apartment in a high rise over on North Lake Shore Drive. Her Dad, who is her only family, lives just outside of Boston. Her Mom passed away ten years ago. No siblings, no ex-husbands, no bad break-ups and no criminal activity on record. Here's her cell phone number."

As Ruzek provided this information I sat in the Admiral's Lounge watching Ramon pace and Rico drink straight tequila out of a bottle from the bar. "I think I want to get a taste of her now Ramon." Rico slurred. "We have time to kill so why not have some fun with her now?" "Are you fucking stupid?" Ramon yelled as he stopped pacing. "And put down the bottle! I need you clear headed. And I'm not letting you fuck her before I have my way with her." "Come on man. The last time we were going to share a girl you ended up killing her before I had a chance." Rico begged, oblivious to the fact he was making Ramon angrier and angrier. I continued to pray they would end up killing each other. Before their argument could continue we all jumped at the sound of Ed Sheeran's voice singing "Galway Girl". It was the ringtone for my cellphone. "It's my phone. It's a blocked number." I said as Ramon pointed his gun at her. "Answer it. On speaker." he told me. "Hello?" I said as I answered. "Christine. This is Sargent Hank Voight with the Intelligence Unit of the Chicago Police Department. Are you okay?" the voice on the phone said. "Yes, Sargent. I haven't been harmed or touched other than what you saw before they dragged me in here. You should know you are on speakerphone." I replied. "Ramon, the runway has been plowed and the plane is at the gate. Why don't you let Christine go since the money is being loaded onto the plane?" Voight said. "Is Halstead on the plane? You know that was my last demand if you want Red here to go free." Ramon yelled. After being told he couldn't let his Detective go with him, Ramon replied "Then what happens next is on you Sargent Voight Her blood will be on your hands. Your hands and Halstead's." before hanging up the phone. "Rico, you watch the door. I'm about to teach Voight a lesson he will never forget. All that's going to be left of Red is a corpse when I'm done with her." Ramon said as he moved towards the chair I sat in. "Ramon you said I would have a shot with her. Let me get a little piece before you kill her." an intoxicated Rico said as he moved towards me from the other side of the room. "Back off Rico or I'll kill you before I kill her." Ramon yelled at him. "I'm tired of you and your shit Rico. I don't need you anymore now that I have the plane waiting for me. I don't need your dead weight to carry around anymore." he said as he turned to Rico pulling the trigger and shooting him between the eyes.

As I watched him in horror I sprang into action at the same time. Ramon was far enough from the door and standing over Rico's dead body so I foolishly thought I could make it to the door. If I could just get out of there I would be safe. The police are on the other side of the door I thought as I ran. I heard another shot ring out as "Galway Girl" played on my phone again. Then I went crashing to the ground, in arm's length of the door, as I felt a searing pain in my leg and saw blood start gushing out of my leg. "Next one will be in your head, bitch, if you try escaping again." he said to me as he answered my phone. "What?" he yelled into the phone as I tried to find a way to stop the bleeding. "Who fired the gun, Ramon? Is everyone okay?" Voight asked. "I got rid of some dead weight and then I taught the bitch what happens when she tried to escape. I don't think Red will be running away from me again, will you?" he said pulling me to my feet by my hair. I yelled out in pain as I heard Voight trying to take control of the situation. "Please help me. He shot me in the leg. I can't make it stop bleeding." I yelled out. "Shut up bitch!" Ramon yelled slapping me so hard I fell back onto the floor landing next to Rico's dead body. A dead body with a loaded gun tucked into the waistband. I was weak from the blood loss but was determined not to die. I grabbed the gun, pointed it at Ramon, closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. As I opened my eyes the doors of the Admiral Club flew open and three men came running through. Ramon was on the floor holding his arm as a cop grabbed him and his gun. The cop I saw before, with the hard green eyes, that were now filled with concern, knelt next to me. As he told me I would be okay I looked at him and said "I know. I'm stronger than I look but I think I'm going to faint now."


	3. Baby Girl And Green Eyes

"Halstead, back away and give the Paramedics some room to do what they need to do." Voight said touching his Detective's shoulder. Jay turned around and stood to see Gabby Dawson and Sylvie Brett come into the Admiral's Club. "Oh My God! It's Christine." Sylvie said as she stood over my unconscious body. "You know her?" Jay asked. "Yeah. Gabby and I both do. We met her at the hotel she works at. We had gone out with Stella for girl's night a few months back and figured we would try out the new lounge at the Beacon Hotel. Christine came over and introduced herself as she was walking through the lounge to make sure we had everything we needed. We told her we were just grabbing a cocktail before we went out for dinner. When she learned we were locals and worked for the Chicago Fire Department she insisted we have dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. When it was time for us to get the check, our server said Christine picked up the check to thank us for what we do. Apparently, she has lots of relatives back in Boston who work for the Fire Department." Sylvie said as Gabby finished checking my vitals. Two firefighters, Matt Casey and Kelly Severide, walked through the door to make sure their assistance wasn't needed. As they looked over my body Kelly blurted out "Is that Christine?" "Jesus, don't tell me you know her too?" Ruzek aked as Matt and Kelly lifted the backboard Gabby & Sylvie had slipped under me and placed it on the gurney. "Yeah. I'm surprised you guys don't. She pops into Molly's every now and then." Matt said. "Not as often as I would like." Kelly said as the guys watched Sylvie and Gabby roll the gurney I was on through the terminal.

A couple of hours later Jay knocked on the door to Voight's office. "Sarge, I finished up the paperwork on today's incident. I'd like to cut out and head to the hospital to check on Christine. I have her cell phone and answered when her Dad called for the fifth time. I told him I would call him when I have more information." Jay said. "Go ahead. Atwater, go with him and watch his back. I'm not 100% sure this Cartel thing is done with. I also told Platt I want a uniform posted on Christine's door. She shot Ramon. He's going to demand payback even from jail. Let me know how she's doing" Voight replied. "Thanks, Sarge. I'll text you later." Jay said as Atwater followed him downstairs. Voight got up from his desk and saw Al and Antonio still at their desks. "What do you have for me?" he asked. "The bomb threat was just that. A threat. We think it had more to do with getting to Halstead. With Ramon taking out Rico, his number two, and him now facing jail time there's going to be a lot of movement within the ranks. I see Little Ricky moving up to be Ramon's number two. He's not like Rico. He is a complete monster and will carry out any order Ramon gives him without question. Of course, there is still El Gato the head of the Cartel to contend with. He holds Halstead responsible for the death of his daughter. He isn't going to give up too easily, even being in Colombia, on justice for his daughter." Antonio said. "I called in a favor and I have two plain clothes detectives from District 30 watching Halstead's back. Unless you want someone in house on him." Al told Voight. "No. Let's leave the two from District 30 on him but I also want someone from here with him 24/7. I don't care who it is but someone is going to be on him until we have this cleared up. I'm gonna give him tonight but then he is going to be staying with me for the time being." Voight replied. "Oh, I'm sure he will love that." Antonio said to Al after Voight returned to his office. "It will be okay. They've gotten closer since Erin left. Halstead needs to get it through his head that it wasn't his fault and it isn't his fault this girl got shot either." Al replied.

Jay and Atwater strolled thru the doors to the E.D. of Chicago Med and were greeted by Jay's brother Dr. Will Halstead. "What are you doing here?" Will asked. "I need to check on a patient. Her name is Christine Brennan. Gabby & Sylvie brought her in earlier." Jay replied. "The girl who was shot at O'Hare? I think she's still in surgery. Give me a minute and I'll check with Maggie." Will said. "Still in surgery? Bro, that doesn't sound good. She's been here for a couple of hours already" Atwater said as they watched Will check with Maggie, the Charge Nurse of the E.D.. "She's up in ICU." Will said as he walked over to them. "If you want to come with me I'll take you up to her room." As Jay, Kevin & Will reached Christine's room they saw Sean Roman was the uniformed cop Platt had assigned. "Roman, I'm glad to see you man. Welcome back to Chicago. We've missed you." Kevin said to him as Dr. Connor Rhodes, Chicago Med's top Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon, walked out of the room. "Dr. Rhodes! What are you doing here? We thought the only injury was the gunshot to her leg." Jay said. As Connor explained to them he had been on call in the E.D. when I had been rushed in, Jay peaked into the room to see if I was okay. "Is she okay? Is she awake? I told her Dad I would call him once I saw her." Jay said. "She's a little out of it right now, due to the pain medication, but you can talk to her for a few minutes. The nurse just gave her something to help her sleep through the night so you may only have ten minutes top with her before she falls back to sleep." Dr. Rhodes replied.

"Christine? How are you feeling?" I heard a voice ask. "Water...please." was all I could get out. I opened my eyes to see him...the cop with the green eyes standing over me. "Thank you." I said as I tried to sit up so I could drink the glass of water he held in front of me. "Hold up. I'll help you." the other cop who I recognized said as he walked into the room. As he helped me sit up, green eyes said to me "I'm Detective Jay Halstead and this is Detective Kevin Atwater. We wanted to check on you to see how you are doing. We will eventually need to get a statement from you but it can wait until tomorrow...well actually later today since it's after midnight. I spoke with your Dad earlier. I picked up your cell phone from the Admiral's Lounge and after the fifth time he called I decided to answer it. I told him either you or I would call him back." "Can you? I'm just too tired right now and I think it might be a little more emotional than I can handle. Or at least put him on speaker so he can hear my voice for a second." I said. Jay called my Dad and he answered on the first ring. "Christine?" his voice filled with concern came over the phone. "Mr. Brennan, this is Jay...uh Detective Halstead. We spoke earlier. I'm here in your daughter's hospital room. She got out of surgery a little while ago and is still a little out of it due to the anesthesia and pain medication but asked me to put you on speaker so you could hear her voice." Jay finished as I said "Hi Dad." "Oh God" he said, his voice breaking. "I've never been so happy to hear you speak since the day you said your first words. Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. I love you so much and thanks to the storm letting up I'm booked on a flight first thing tomorrow morning to see you." "I love you, Daddy. Tho I don't know if you can call me Baby Girl anymore. I'm thirty now. I'm officially old" I said. "Christine, you will always be my Baby Girl no matter how old you are. Remember age is just a number. You're only as old as you feel." he replied. "Well I must be 110 today because that's how I feel. I need to get some sleep Dad. I'll see you tomorrow." I said as Jay took the phone off speaker and walked out of my hospital room to continue the conversation with my Dad. He returned a few minutes later and set the phone down on the table next to my hospital bed. "I'm sure you would like to have this especially since when you wake up your phone will be flooded with birthday text messages and phone calls." Jay said. "Thank you." I said, yawning. "That would be our cue to leave. Officer Roman is outside your door and will be out there for the night. If you need anything you let him know. Happy Birthday, Christine. When you're up for it I'll buy you a birthday drink down at Molly's since we hear you hang out there with the girls sometimes" Kevin said as he stood up to leave. "Give me a minute, will you Kev?" Jay asked. "Sure man. I'll go catch up with Roman." he said leaving Jay and I alone.

"You're crazy, you know that!? You grabbed a loaded gun and tried to take on a madman...a Cartel leader who has killed hundreds of people over the years. What were you thinking?" Jay yelled. "I was thinking I wasn't ready to die and I wasn't going to let him rape me either. He had already hit me and I knew the rest of what he promised to do to me was going to happen very shortly. It was going to be me or him. I guess I shouldn't have closed my eyes though when I fired the gun...maybe I would have gotten a better shot." I said calmly thinking they must have me on some good drugs to prevent me from yelling back at Jay. "You closed your eyes?" Jay asked, completely exasperated." "Yes, I did. Now if you don't mind I would like to go back to sleep green eyes." I replied, not noticing my words were slurring and not noticing I called him green eyes, as the pain medicine mixed with the sleep medicine. "Christine?" Jay asked but I never heard him. Kevin would later tell me that Jay then said "Happy Birthday and I'll be buying you birthday drinks before Kevin or Kelly Severide does."

"Man, she is a fighter." Kevin said as Jay walked out of my hospital room. "I can't believe she shot Ramon with Rico's gun while her eyes were closed and still managed to hit him. She is one tough chick." he finished. "And she's one hot chick. I'm a sucker for a hot chick with auburn curly hair, freckles and gorgeous blue eyes." "Shut up. She's part of our investigation at this point. You know you can't hook up with her." Jay quickly said, his voice sounding harsher than he intended. "This investigation isn't gonna go on forever. Maybe I'll give Sylvie a call after Christmas and get the 411 on her. See what Christine's deal is before I buy her drinks at Molly's." Kevin replied, after noticing how Jay had looked at me in my hospital room he continued on trying to bait the other Detective. Hoping Halstead would give in, Kevin finished with "I bet working for a fancy hotel company she gets all sorts of discounts on rooms all over the country. Maybe she needs a travel buddy." "You're an ass. Let's get out of here." Jay said as he looked into my room one more time before heading towards the elevator.


	4. Happy Birthday To Me

I woke up the next morning to find my Dad sitting in the chair in my hospital room. "If you look as bad as you do, I can only imagine how bad I look." I said as I opened my eyes. "Hi Dad." "You gave me quite a scare Christine. When I called for the fifth time the Detective who answered your phone told me what happened." he said, as he held my hand. I looked at him, gave him a weak smile and said "Yeah, definitely not the way I thought I would be spending the night of December 23rd. I thought by that point I would have been tucked into bed in my old room at your house. And this is definitely not the place I planned on spending my birthday." I said to him. "Ah yes, your birthday. Now I can continue our tradition and say it in person. Happy Birthday, Christine. I love you." he replied bringing tears to both our eyes. "That Detective, the one who answered your phone, came by while you were still sleeping. He said he would be back a little later to take your statement. The doctor came in as well. He said he would be back by in an hour or so. There's a good chance you will be released today." "Thank God! Where should we have dinner tonight? I'll have to make reservations right now." I said, trying to think where I could get us in for dinner that wouldn't be the hotel and wouldn't result in us eating delivery from the local Chinese Restaurant. "Maybe you should get the okay from your Doctor before you start making dinner reservations." a voice said from the doorway. "Connor! How did you know I was here? Wait, did you operate on me last night?" I asked. Before he could answer, I turned to my Dad and said, "Dad this is Connor Rhodes. Apparently, he is not only my friend and neighbor he is now also my Doctor." After exchanging quick pleasantries, Connor told me I could go home but needed to keep pressure off of my leg. Which meant I would be on crutches for the next week or so. Well I guess it could be worse I thought to myself. "I'll go get the paperwork for you to sign and then we will get you on your way. I'm getting off shift shortly, can I give the two of you a ride home?" Connor asked. "That would be much appreciated." my Dad replied. "Hey Dad, Connor doesn't really have much family he is close to and if he is getting off shift now, would you mind if I invited him to dinner with us tonight? I'm thinking steak at Gibson's tonight. If I can't get us a reservation on-line I can call the restaurant's GM and he'll get us in." I said. After my Dad asked again if I was really up for going out and I told him he wasn't getting out of treating me to a birthday dinner, he told me he didn't mind if Connor came with us. I quickly made the reservation on-line for three people at 7:00pm while we waited for Connor to come back with the paperwork.

Connor came back in dressed in street clothes and with scrubs for me to wear home. I threw the hospital scrubs on and my Ugg boots while my Dad gathered my personal belongings in a plastic hospital bag. I signed the paperwork and then happened to mention that I didn't know where my carry-on suitcase was. I hadn't seen it since Ramon grabbed me at the airport the day before. Connor mentioned Officer Roman had brought it to the hospital yesterday and Connor had already placed it in the trunk of his car. On the ride home I asked Connor if he had dinner plans. When he said he didn't I told him to be ready at 6:30pm because he was going to dinner to celebrate my birthday with my Dad & I. As Connor tried to back out of dinner my Dad guilted him into agreeing to it saying buying Connor dinner was the least he could do as a thank you for saving my life when he operated on me. After making sure my Dad & I got in my apartment safely, Connor headed two floors up to his apartment telling us he would see us in a few hours. I hobbled on my crutches into the kitchen where I pulled out a wine glass, a bottle of wine and a bottle of beer for my Dad. "Little early for you, isn't it?" Dad asked. "It's after 12:00pm and while I normally don't drink this early it's my birthday and I think we have both earned a drink after the past 24 hours. Plus, I didn't take any pain medicine today knowing very well I had a bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay chilling in the fridge." I said as I grabbed the wine opener. I opened the wine, poured a glass and handed my Dad his beer. "Slainte" I said as I clinked the top of my glass to his beer. "Happy Birthday!" he toasted in return as we both took a sip. "Let's go into the living room and sit down." I said. Grabbing my glass and his bottle of beer, he followed me into the living room and handed me my glass after I took a seat on the couch. "Great Christmas Tree this year. I can't believe you got a tree even though you weren't supposed to be here for Christmas." he said, admiring the balsam fir tree standing in front of the floor to ceiling windows that overlooked Lake Michigan. "Thank you. I had to have a tree. I hosted two Christmas parties this year and couldn't have a party without a properly decorated apartment." I replied. Before I could comment the doorbell rang. "Stay there. I'll get it." Dad said as he walked down the hallway to my door. "Detective Halstead. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" I heard him ask. Shit, I thought to myself. I had been hoping to look a little more put together the next time I saw him. I looked down at myself, dressed in hospital scrubs with my hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and no makeup on thinking I definitely didn't come close to looking put together. "Is Christine here?" a female voice asked. "Yes, come on in. She's in the living room. We were just having a drink to toast her Birthday. I can't believe I have a daughter who is thirty today." my Dad said as Jay and a female walked into the room behind him.

"What are you doing here Detective Halstead?" I asked. Green eyes then reminded me I needed to give my statement about what had happened the day before. He then introduced my Dad and I to Kim Burgess, an Officer with the Intelligence Unit. "It's nice to officially meet you. I was pretty impressed with what you did yesterday. Not too many people would have had the guts to do what you did. Officer Roman will be posted at your door for the next few days. We will have a uniform detail at night for you as well. Just until we can make sure there is no blow back from you shooting Ramon." Kim said to me. "It's funny you say that because, and I'm not sure if it was the medication or not, but I'm pretty sure someone yelled at me last night saying I was crazy for doing what I did." I replied, with a grin on my face as my eyes darted in Jay's direction. "Well I think it was pretty brave. I told Sylvie and Gabby I want in on the next girl's night out." Kim said. "Let's just get her statement and get out of here so she can enjoy her visit with her Dad and the rest of her birthday." Jay said. As I was finishing giving my statement and answering their questions about exactly what happened in the Admiral's Lounge, my front door opened causing Jay and Kim to stand with their guns pointed in the direction of the hallway. "What the fuck!?" Connor yelled as he put his hands up. "Jesus, Connor! We could have shot you. Do you always happen to walk into a patient's apartment without knocking?" Jay said. "When that patient is my neighbor as well as my friend I do. Christine, you left your phone in my car today. Why don't you and your Dad come up to my place at 5:00pm. I have a surprise for you before we head to dinner." Connor said. As he turned around walking towards the door he called out over his shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Kim. Halstead, try not to shoot anyone who doesn't deserve it." "Well we have everything we need so we should get going." Kim said noticing a weird look on Jay's face. A very unhappy look. A look she hadn't seen on his face since Erin left Chicago a year ago. "Kim, we're supposed to do girl's night here at my place on the 29th. It's a casual post-Christmas / pre-New Year's night in with take-out and lots of wine if you can make it. I know as of right now Sylvie, Gabby and Stella are definitely coming. I texted April and Nat as well. April has to check her work schedule but said she would be here if she could come and Nat will be here if Will can watch Owen for a few hours. Put my number in your phone and shoot me a text if you can make it." I said noticing the unhappy look on Jay's face change to one of shock. "You know my brother's girlfriend?" he asked. "Yes. I've actually had the pleasure of meeting your brother out of the hospital as well. I've had dinner with them and Connor a couple of times." I said not realizing what I was implying. After they left, my Dad, who typically doesn't notice these types of things said "You know the Detective likes you and now he thinks you're dating the Doctor."

I thought about my Dad's words as I got ready for dinner. I normally would have worn a dress to Gibson's but didn't want the bandage showing. It was bad enough I was on crutches, which meant I couldn't wear my new Louboutin stiletto's I treated myself to as an early birthday gift. Damn, I guess they'll be staying in the box in the shelf of my closet for a little while longer. As I took extra care of my shampoo and shower routine I wondered what the hell Connor had planned that would require us to be at his apartment two hours before dinner. I didn't know what he was up to but in fear that I would somehow end up with my picture in the paper (it was always a possibility when you hung out with Connor Rhodes) I needed to take extra care in making sure I looked good tonight. I blew dry my shoulder length auburn hair and proceeded to straighten it, making sure it was smooth and shiny. I conservatively applied my make-up but accentuated with smoky eyes and dark lips. I decided on a pair of fitted black pants with a sapphire blue v-neck silk shirt that tied at the waist. I put on the platinum and diamond Claddagh earrings with the matching necklace my Dad had given me the year before for my Birthday. I slipped into a pair of black suede wedge booties and hobbled my way out to the living room. "You look beautiful. I wish your Mother was here to see you." Dad said as he handed me a small box once again wishing me a Happy Birthday. I opened the box and inside was a set of what appeared to be house keys along with a check and a piece of official looking paper. "You bought me a house in Myrtle Beach?" I asked, in shock. "I know how much you love it there and I know how much you and your Mom enjoyed your girl's trips there. The check is to decorate it however you would like. It's the house you used to stay in. The one with three bedrooms, two and a half baths with a beautiful deck that overlooks the ocean. I hope you and your friends will enjoy your trips there and you'll make new memories." I couldn't believe it. I hadn't been to Myrtle Beach since my Mom had passed away but was floored my Dad put so much thought into this gift. "Thank you, Dad." I said using my crutches to where he now stood looking out the windows. "Enough of this. Let's go see what Connor has in store for you." he said as he lead the way out of my apartment.

"Oh, Officer Roman. My apologies. I completely forgot you were here. Can I get you some water or something to eat? We are heading out for the night. I hope you don't have to stand here the entire time we are gone." I said. He informed us he was to escort us up to Connor's apartment and remain there until we headed to dinner. There would be plain clothes officers who would then follow us to the restaurant and then back home where a uniformed officer would then be guarding my apartment for the rest of the night. We took the elevator two floors up to the 22nd floor. I could hear music coming from Connor's apartment and noticed the smile on my Dad's face. "You know what's going on, don't you?" I asked. Not answering me, my Dad opened the door and walked into Connor's apartment leaving me in the hallway with Roman. So much for manners I thought as I followed a few seconds later on my crutches. As I made my way into Connor's living room I was surprised when I saw a crowd gathered and they all yelled "Happy 30th Birthday Christine!" I looked at my Dad and Connor with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes. They had planned a little last minute cocktail party to celebrate my birthday before dinner. It was a small group made up of my friends from the hospital, the fire department and a couple of people from the hotel. After Connor handed me a glass of champagne he introduced my Dad to April, Ethan, Nat and Will from the hospital. Watching my Dad make conversation I started working my way through the group to thank everyone for coming. I was glad it was early and wouldn't cut into anyone's plans with their family for Christmas Eve. As I stood with Matt, Gabby, Sylvie, Stella and Kelly I noticed him in the room for the first time. Green eyes was here! I really needed to stop calling him that I thought to myself after I embarrassed myself in the hospital last night. "Detective Halstead, I didn't expect to see you here." I said to him. When Jay told me he and Detective Dawson would be escorting us to dinner, I said "Well I hope you'll be able to actually eat with us and not sit out in a car. I feel bad that you're not home with your families on Christmas Eve." Before Jay could answer, Antonio came up and introduced himself. "Ah, Gabby's infamous brother." I said grinning at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. When I told him I had heard a lot about him from Gabby, Stella and Sylvie he blushed. Before I knew it, everyone was leaving and it was time for us to head to dinner. Most of the group, at least the ones without kids or families in the area mentioned they were headed to Molly's later on and invited us to join them. After agreeing to meet up with them for an after-dinner cocktail my Dad, Connor and I headed to Gibson's with Jay and Antonio following us.

Dinner, as always at Gibson's, was absolutely amazing. Even though I couldn't see him from where I was sitting, I could feel Jay's eyes on me. I had noticed something different in his eyes when we were in Connor's apartment. I knew he was attracted to me. I could tell. But he was holding back and I wasn't sure if it was because he was doing his best to be professional because of yesterday or if it was because he had a girlfriend. I was hoping I could convince him to actually have a drink with me tonight at Molly's so I could get to know him a little more. I didn't want to have to pump Nat and Will for information the next time I saw them. Asking Will about his brother would be too embarrassing, even for me. After dinner, Jay and Antonio followed us to Molly's. I was feeling a little bold due to the liquid courage I had gained thanks to the couple of glasses of champagne at Connor's and then the couple of glasses of Cakebread Cabernet I consumed at dinner so I decided to make my move. I went up to Antonio first and asked him if he and Jay were off duty because I wanted to buy him a drink. Antonio said they were. The uniformed detail was outside of the bar and since I was in a bar filled with firefighters and cops they thought I would be pretty safe. I turned to Otis and Hermann informing them Antonio and Jay's drinks would be on my tab for the night. Stella, one of my closest girlfriends in Chicago, yelled from behind the bar "That'll be tough considering your money is no good here tonight since it's not only your birthday but you managed to get shot by a Cartel drug lord yesterday who you then shot in return!" "Who wants to buy the Birthday Girl a drink?" she yelled to the bar patrons, winking at me. Kevin was at my side instantly asking what I wanted to drink as Stella placed a Jameson on the bar in front of me. "Happy Birthday from the very hot and very single Detective Halstead." she said. I turned to Kevin, smiled at him and said "Thank you Detective Atwater but it looks like Detective Halstead has taken care of my drink." Halstead did say he would buy you a drink before I could. Please call me Kevin. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of each other. Now go flash that beautiful smile at Jay. He's looking a little lonely down there." he replied. "Oh and Christine, Jay is a great guy. One of the best I know but he's been thru a lot lately so you may have to go slow with him." he said turning away.

I looked back at Stella, who was still grinning in my direction and asked her to send my drink down to the end of the bar. I hobbled my way down to where my drink sat next to Jay's glass of Jameson. "Happy Birthday Christine." he said smiling at me. "Slainte and thank you for everything." I said in return clinking my glass against his. "Next time Detective Halstead drinks are on me. It's the least I can do." "I think since you're on a first name basis with everyone else you can call me Jay." he replied. "And I'll hold you to that drink." he said before taking another sip of his drink. God, he's beautiful I thought to myself as I flashed him a grin that would make most men melt. My grin may not have made him melt but it did make him blush. As we finished our Jameson's, I asked him how it was we hadn't bumped into each other in Molly's in the past six months or so I've been going there. His eyes went hard for a second before he shrugged and replied "Work always gets in the way of the good things." He turned trying to get Stella's attention to order another drink when Kelly Severide came up behind us and placed a Jameson on the bar in front of me. "Happy Birthday gorgeous." he said as he kissed me on the cheek. "It's been too long since I've seen you in Molly's. Scared the crap out of me when Casey and I saw Dawson & Brett working on you yesterday. So happy you're okay." "Thanks Kelly." I said noticing he was definitely a little buzzed and noticing Jay's demeanor had changed. "Kelly you know Jay, right?" I asked. "Yeah. How's it going, Halstead?" he replied without taking his eyes off me. Jay stood up, throwing some cash on the bar and said "Looks like it's time for me to go. Happy Birthday again, Christine." "Jay," I said as I grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving. "Thank you for everything. Let me know when you're ready to cash in on that drink." I don't know who was more surprised by my grabbing his hand, but he smiled and as he said he would be in touch he stroked my hand with his thumb before turning and walking out the door into the cold December night.


	5. The Holiday Blues

Christmas Day passed quietly as my Dad and I exchanged gifts in the morning and ordered delivery from the Chinese Food restaurant a few blocks away. I felt bad that Officer Roman was stuck guarding my door again so I made him come inside and eat with us. Sean is actually a pretty funny guy, with a dry sense of humor, once you get to know him. After dinner he went back to his post outside my door as my Dad and I watched the Celtics – Lakers basketball game. As we were sitting there I couldn't help but continually check my phone. I thought I would have gotten at least one text from Jay today. I could have sworn we had a real moment last night, but maybe that was just the alcohol clouding my memory. "So the Detective, the Doctor and the Fireman walked into a bar..." my dad started. "This sounds like the start of a really bad joke." I replied knowing he was teasing. After the game was over I decided to head to bed. I was exhausted with the stress of the past few days finally catching up to me. Knowing my Dad was leaving the next morning didn't help either. It meant I had to go back to O'Hare...the scene of the crime.

I was up and showered early the next morning. I checked and responded to the majority of my e-mails before breakfast. Dad had to be at the airport by 10:30am and I was going straight to the hotel after I dropped him off. I walked out of my bedroom, dressed for the day in a black and purple Calvin Klein knee-length sleeveless dress with matching suit jacket and black knee-high leather boots with a low heel, when I stopped abruptly, surprised to see the guy who had been the manager of the Publican Tavern sitting in my living room with Kevin Atwater. "Morning Christine. This is Detective Adam Ruzek. He's part of the Intelligence Unit down at District 21. I wanted to come by and introduce him to you. Officer Roman informed us of your plans for today and Sargent Voight though having a plain clothes detective would be less conspicuous than having a uniformed cop hanging out in your office all day." Kevin said. I looked at Adam and grinning at him said "I should have known. You made a pretty shitty restaurant manager."

After a very emotional good-bye with my Dad at O'Hare, Adam and I got back into my black Mercedes GLE 350 SUV and headed to the hotel. "I don't get why I couldn't drive." Ruzek said as I navigated downtown Chicago traffic. "I just met you thirty minutes ago and you're wondering why I won't let you drive my $60,000.00 car? You're as insane as the rest of your unit. No one drives my car but me." I responded glancing at him as I pulled into the hotel's valet. "You obviously let the valet drive your car." he said as I slung my leather bag across my body and hobbled thru the front door of the hotel. I greeted my staff by name and asked about their holiday as I passed the front desk. There were lots of curious glances at my crutches and towards Adam, who was practically glued to my side. Upon entering the Executive Offices, I introduced Adam to Brianna, my Assistant. I asked Bri to set up a meeting with Laura, the hotel's Assistant General Manager, and Stephen, the Director of Security at 2:00pm. I then asked her to order lunch from the restaurant and have it delivered to my office in 45 minutes. I ordered burgers and fries for Adam & I and told him, with an evil grin, the food and service would be much better than what I received at the Publican. Bri said she would take care of it and then told me the daily reports along with my mail were on my desk. Adam and I headed into my office and as I did I smiled when I walked through the doors. I loved my office and was so thankful I was able to design it when the hotel was built. The room itself was all white with a light blueish-gray trim. The dark colored hard wood floors were covered with white, gray and plum colored area rug under my desk. The glass and chrome desk added a modern touch to the room while the leather tufted high back desk chair added a comfortable homelike feel. The windows behind my desk looked out over downtown Chicago. It was a beautiful view, day or night. A round glass conference table with chrome accents and white leather tufted chairs sat four and was the perfect spot to host small departmental meetings with my managers. Across from the conference table was a sitting area made up of a gray and light blue sofa flanked by two high back chairs of the same fabric and color. A glass coffee table with chrome accents and two similarly designed end tables completed the seating area. Adam made himself comfortable on the sofa as I immediately got to work. After a few minutes I almost forgot he was there as I focused on revenue reports from the previous three nights. I was very pleased with what I saw. We were on schedule to blow away our annual budget and I couldn't be happier. It would shut up the doubters on the Board of Directors who have repeatedly said I was too young to be General Manager of a 5-star / 5-diamond property. I then sent out a few e-mails, thankful there weren't many left since I had cleaned out most of my inbox that morning.

By the time lunch was delivered I was caught up with the exception of my mail. Adam and I sat down at the conference table when lunch was delivered. As we ate I opened my mail. Everything was normal until I reached for the box that had been on the bottom of the pile. "Huh. That's weird." I said. "What's weird?" Adam asked. "There's no return address or postage on the box. It's almost as if it was hand delivered." I replied. "Put the box down" Adam instructed as he made a call on his cell phone. "Boss, I think El Gato has made his first move. There's a box with no return address and no postage that was delivered to Christine's office at the hotel before we got here. I need a bomb tech and back up at the Beacon Hotel. We're in the Executive Offices. I'll have the Director of Security waiting for you out front." he paused listening to whatever Voight said in response. "Yeah. I'll take her out the back and meet you at the District afterwards." he replied ending the call. "We gotta go." Adam said grabbing my bag and winter coat. "I'm not leaving." I told him. "You can't expect me to run away and leave my employees in danger. It's like the Titanic. If the ship goes down then the Captain goes down with it." I said calmly as I buzzed Bri over the intercom and told her to get Laura and Stephen into my office immediately. "I think I saw the movie Titanic. Didn't the Captain jump ship and get into a lifeboat as the Titanic was sinking?" Ruzek asked. I ignored him as my office door opened and I quickly made introductions. Adam gave Laura and Stephen a very abridged version of what was going on and Stephen immediately headed outside to wait for the cops. Laura and I posted ourselves in the lobby to make sure the staff, and any guests passing through the lobby who noticed the police, remained calm and to ensure it was business as usual.

"I'm not sure who will kick my ass first for not getting you out of here, Voight or Halstead." Adam said, standing next to me, as the rest of his unit came through the front doors. I turned and, on my crutches, lead the way to my office as quickly as possible. As we entered my office I heard Jay's voice angrily say "What the fuck, Ruzek?" You were supposed to get her out of here and back to the District." I ignored Jay, instead looking at his boss saying "Sargent Voight, it's nice to see you again. Maybe one of these days we will bump into each other under less dire circumstances. Tho no one is pointing a gun at my head at the moment or shooting me so I would like to think we are making progress. I'm sure you can understand that I wasn't going to leave my hotel, my staff and my management team who are like my family to run away and hide while they are unknowingly in danger." "I can respect that. But it's our job to keep you safe. Please remember that and remember the suggestions or orders we give you are to protect you. Now let's find out what's in the box." he replied. When the bomb technician gave the all clear, I watched Detective Alvin Olinsky carefully open the box. I then noticed Jay had moved to my side. He stood so close our arms were touching, almost as if he was ready to block me from any danger the contents of the box may cause. Inside the box was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. Sticking out of the mouth of a dead snake was a dead rat with a noose around its neck and a bullet in its stomach. There were three dead rats spread around the box, all with bullets in their stomachs. Al looked at me and in a soft voice said "He's sending you a message." "No shit. I figured that out. He's telling me I'm going to die no matter what for shooting him, which resulted in his capture, but if I rat on him or testify then he will get to my family, friends and the one I love." I responded calmly. I turned and headed to my desk. As I sat in my chair I looked at the seven faces in front of me and said "I need a minute. Take the box into the conference room. I'll be with you shortly." I knew I was reaching my breaking point but there was no way I would let them see me cry. I turned around in my chair and looked out over the city I had come to love almost as much as I loved my hometown of Boston.

When I heard the door close I let the tears flow. I was afraid and maybe at that point I realized for the first time how easily the Cartel could get to me. I put my Dad and my friends at risk as well. As soon as that thought crossed my mind the tears stopped and I became angry and worried. I turned in my chair to grab my cell phone off my desk so I could text my Dad when I noticed I wasn't completely alone. I chose to ignore him as I texted my Dad making sure he had made it home safely and after hitting send I glared at Jay and with an angry voice said "I believe I asked for a few minutes to myself Detective Halstead. Why are you still in my office?" "You're amazing." he said getting up from the sofa and walking over to my desk. He walked around to the side of my desk I was sitting on and leaned against the desk facing me and said "Most people would have had a complete breakdown. Yours lasted for maybe a minute and then something inside you clicked. You once again started thinking about everyone else's safety ahead of your own, didn't you?" Without waiting for a response, he pushed himself off the desk and leaned forward placing a hand on each one of the arm rests of my chair. "Amazing." he said again, his eyes searching for something in mine before adding "Probably goes to show just how stubborn and crazy you really are. Smart too, I'm guessing." I held my breath as he leaned in a little closer and he caught me off guard when he asked "Are you hooking up with Connor Rhodes or Kelly Severide?" "What? No! Why would you ask that?" I replied. "Because I can't get you out of my mind and I've been dying to do this since I first saw you." he said as he leaned in to kiss me. And what a kiss it would have been if there hadn't been a knock on my door followed by Ruzek bursting in. "Hey Jay, Voight needs you, Kev and Antonio to follow up on a lead. He contacted Boston PD and they're going to put a couple of detectives on Christine's Dad. Burgess and I will stay with Christine until Roman comes on duty at midnight." he said. Jay turned and without another word or a glance in my direction he walked out of my office.

The next few days followed without incident but my normally cheerful disposition was taking a turn for the worse. Adam would relieve Roman each morning at 7:00am and ride with me to work at 7:30am. He would stay by my side until either Antonio or Kevin relieved him at 4:00pm. At 6:00pm, I would drive home from work with my babysitter, and they would stay with me until Roman arrived at midnight. I hadn't heard from or seen Jay in three days and it was not helping my mood. At least it was Friday night which meant time for a much needed girls night! Due to an emergency at the hospital, April and Nat couldn't make it. It was going to be me, Gabby, Sylvie, Stella and Kim. Stella was the only one who hadn't been to my apartment and as she walked in she said "Girl, it's gorgeous! Oh, and the view! I love you still have your Christmas tree and decorations up." she said as Kim walked into the living room with Adam and Kevin behind her. "Thanks." I said. "I don't typically take them down until after New Year's. This year will be a little later than that thanks to these damn crutches. And what are the two of you doing here? Pretty sure I didn't extend an invitation for the two of you to join us for girl's night." I said hating the fact my voice sounded angry and bitter. "Hold up! Relax. We are just dropping Kim off. Since she's a cop and gonna be here Voight gave us the night off from babysitting duty." Adam replied. Kevin grinned at me as he said "Your mood has become just as bad as Halstead's these past couple of days. It's almost like you both are taking the holiday blues to the extreme. We're meeting Jay here and then heading to Molly's. Adam will be back later to pick up Kim when she's ready to leave, after Roman gets here. We convinced Voight to give Halstead a hall pass for the night. He is free of his babysitters for a few hours and gonna crash at my place tonight." "Jay's coming here? Now?" I asked as I automatically tried to tame my curls and wondered if I had time to touch up my makeup. As Gabby snickered there was a knock at my door. "I'll get it." I said as I quickly hobbled my way towards the hall. "No!" Adam, Kevin and Kim all yelled. "Jesus!" Sylvie said. "I'd kinda be a bitch too if I had to deal with this all week. You must be going out of your mind." "Now's your time...make your move." Stella whispered to me before announcing to the group that she wasn't feeling well. "I hate to do this since we haven't had a girl's night in such a long time but I think I have to go. Brett, Dawson do you mind giving me a ride since we all came together?" I stood in disbelief as my three closest Chicago girlfriends put their jackets on and flashed me wicked, knowing grins before saying goodnight. Kim then grinned at me before turning to Adam and suggesting they have a date night since they were both off of work for the night and didn't have to go into the District the next day. "Yo dawg! Can you drop me at Molly's on your way?" Kevin asked. Adam turned to Jay and said "Enjoy babysitting duty. Roman should be here at midnight. She's been in a mood the past few days so good luck." before he followed Kevin and Kim out of my apartment, leaving me alone with Jay.


	6. Crossing The Line

"Hi!" I said noticing my voice sounded different, almost breathless. "I'm sorry your guys night got ruined because of me. I'm not sure what happened and why the girls all bailed. That's a new one. I'm sure you could still catch up with Kevin. I can always go hide at Connor's until Roman gets here. Or if you want to have a drink you're more than welcome to have one here. I have beer, wine, Jameson...you don't really look like a champagne drinker but I have champagne too. Oh! There's also a bottle of Grey Goose and a bottle of Jack Fire in the freezer. Jesus, you must think I'm an alcoholic. I'm really not. My apartment has just been the one everyone has come to over the past couple of years for get-togethers and parties. So there's always plenty to drink on hand at all times. Food...yeah...um if you're hungry I had ordered delivery. It should be here in about twenty minutes. There will be plenty since it was supposed to feed five of us for girl's night and I'm now babbling. I don't normally babble. Jay, I need you to talk so I can shut up now." Without saying a word Jay walked over to where I was standing and looked down at me. At barely 5'1 most people, especially when I'm not in heels, tower over me. Tipping my chin up he finally spoke saying "Christine, I'm about to cross a line here. A line that there's no coming back from. A line I've been trying to avoid since we were alone in your office three days ago. I need you to tell me to stop, to leave before it's too late." "I can't" I whispered, still looking up at him. "You're going to regret this and I don't want you to hate me but I can't help myself." he said before bending his head lower and his mouth met mine.

I let out a surprised little gasp as Jay pushed me back against the wall and slammed his mouth on mine, immediately demanding I let him in. Parting my lips slightly was the only invitation he needed as his mouth took possession of mine, our tongues teasing and dancing against each other. As our kiss deepened, I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting my crutches fall to the floor. Not breaking the kiss, Jay picked me up and carried me over to the couch. He sat down, keeping me on his lap. Every inch of my body was craving more. As his hands made their way from my waist to my breasts I tried to get even closer to him. As he started to lift my shirt over my head the doorbell rang. "Shit. That has to be the delivery guy from Mia Francesca's. I'm surprised the lobby concierge didn't buzz me to give the okay for him to come up. That's one of the reasons I chose to rent in this building...24 hour security." I said grabbing my crutches heading for the door with my wallet. Before I made it two steps Jay grabbed me, picked me up and put me inside the walk-in closet in my bedroom. He bent down and pulled a gun out of his ankle holster. He handed it to me saying "I'm going to close your bedroom door. If anyone other than me or a cop who you know comes thru that door, you shoot first and ask questions later. Just don't close your eyes this time." He quickly kissed me and walked out of my bedroom closing the door behind him.

I sat on the floor of my closet for what felt like an eternity but in reality, was only a matter of minutes. My bedroom door slowly opened and with shaky hands I held the gun pointing it in the direction of the door until I heard Jay's voice say "It's just me. Don't shoot." As I saw him come into my room, I forgot about my crutches and ran to him throwing myself in his arms. "You scared the shit out of me, Halstead." I said. He told me he thought most likely it was the delivery guy but when I mentioned the concierge not buzzing my apartment it sent up red flags. He put me down on my bed and walked over to my closet to pick up the gun and my crutches. "You look a little pale. Are you okay?" he asked with concern in his voice. "Yeah. Connor wasn't kidding when he said it would hurt if I put pressure on my leg too soon." I replied making my way back into the living room. We unloaded the delivery bags and placed everything on the island that separated my living room from my kitchen. Jay held my plate as I piled bruschetta, calamari, rigatoni with eggplant in a spicy tomato sauce and a slice of pizza onto it. As I noticed his grin I asked what he found so amusing. When he responded with "That's a lot of food for a tiny woman." I reminded him I had barely eaten all week because of stress and I was starving. Not only that but Italian food is my favorite. I left my crutches in the living room and gingerly walked into the kitchen. "What do you want to drink?" I asked as I grabbed a bottle of wine out of the fridge. "Whatever you're having is good with me." he said walking into the kitchen and handing me my crutches. "I hate having to use them. I feel like such an invalid." I said making my way back to the couch. Jay followed with the bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay, a wine chiller, two glasses and the wine opener. He obviously felt very at home going through my cabinets I thought to myself. With music playing and the lights from my Christmas Tree and fireplace mantle twinkling we enjoyed dinner while we got to know each other better. It was very much like a first date...the conversation was kept light and casual with neither one of us mentioning the kiss from before or his comment about crossing the line.

We finished dinner, and as Jay put the leftovers away, I opened a second bottle of wine. I refilled both of our glasses and before I could take a sip Jay picked me up and carried me back into the living room. He laid me on the couch and proceeded to cover my body with his. I ran my hands up and down his arms feeling his muscles through his shirt. "Jay" I whispered breaking the kiss. He pulled his head back, his green eyes smoldering and looked at me waiting for me to speak. "I'd normally be all for this but my leg is really hot and feels weird." He pulled back and that's when we both looked down to see the blood seeping through my jeans. "Shit!" he exclaimed as he jumped up to get a towel to put pressure on the wound. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and texted Connor. Thankfully he was home and said he'd be right down. A minute later, Jay let Connor in and Connor looked at me and said the jeans needed to come off so he could examine my leg. Knowing full well I only had a thong on I wasn't stripping down in front of Connor. I didn't care that he was a doctor. He was also my friend and it would be weird...especially with Jay in the room. I asked Jay to help me into my room so I could change into a pair of shorts I typically wear to the gym. As Jay picked me up I saw the surprised look on Connor's face. I flashed him a telling grin over Jay's shoulder as we disappeared into my bedroom. I quickly unzipped my jeans as Jay set me on the bed. He carefully peeled my jeans off one leg at a time, pausing slightly and sharply inhaling, when he saw the black and lavender g-string I had on. I grinned noticing the look in his eyes and told him which drawer my shorts were in. Once I slipped the shorts on he carried me back out to the living room where Connor had covered the couch in towels to prevent a blood stain. "It looks like you just tore a few stitches. Did you put unnecessary pressure on your leg?" Connor asked. Jay then explained the incident from earlier, when the delivery guy arrived, as Connor quickly stitched me back up. "All set." he said packing up his medical bag. "Thanks Connor. Do you want a drink before you head home?" Jay asked before I could. "You know what they say...three's a crowd." He said grinning at me. "Thanks Connor." I said. After Connor said he'd check on me tomorrow and walked out the door, I looked at Jay and told him I needed to show him something. He followed me into my bedroom and I said "Remember that line you mentioned? Well there's no going back now." I said as I slipped out of my shorts and pulled my t-shirt over my head revealing the black and lavender bra that matched my g-string.

"Holy fuck" he said. He looked like he wanted to ravish me as his eyes made their way up and down my body. My DD breasts were overflowing almost to the point of falling out of my bra. He walked over to me and as he began to softly kiss me his hands moved up to my head and he ran his fingers thru my hair. I couldn't help but moan against his lips as I moved my body as close to his as possible. His lips made their way from my mouth to my neck and back up to my mouth. He paused, looking at me and gave me a cocky grin before swooping in and taking control of my mouth one more time with his. His fingers found my breast and pinched my nipple teasingly, causing me to moan and almost beg for more. He removed my bra and as his fingers made their way down my body he couldn't control himself as he tore my g-string apart. I realized at that point that I was completely naked in front of him and he was still fully dressed. I pushed his mouth off mine as I started to pull his shirt over his head. My fingers fumbled with the zipper of his jeans since I was shaking so much. I needed him to be as naked as I was. Since he was so appreciative of my appearance I was extremely turned on and dying to touch him and taste him. I needed him. Pure basic instinct...I just needed him. I needed to feel him inside of me.

Pushing me back onto the bed, kissing me hard and deep until I was almost whimpering, Jay forced my legs open and I wrapped them around his waist as he pushed himself inside of me. I lifted my hips off the bed as far as I could to meet his thrusting. Suddenly he was back on his knees making me cry out in pleasure and surprise as he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me towards him. Pounding into me over and over as deep as he could go caused me to cum harder than I think I ever have in my entire life. Watching a smile spread across his face as he watched me orgasm made me smile in return. My smile grew bigger as I heard him groan when he let himself cum (for what seemed like an eternity). Who knew that it would be this good?

Afterwards, as I lay with my head on Jay's chest, his arms wrapped around me I asked him why he thought I would end up hating him. He said he didn't want to ruin our night by talking about that now. He looked at the clock and noticed it was midnight. I watched him get up, disappointed he was getting dressed. I assumed he was leaving when he sat at the edge of my bed and said when he went out to talk to Roman and then came back inside people were going to find out because it would have to go into Roman's nightly report. "Jay as long as you don't get into any trouble I don't care who finds out you stayed here. We are two consenting adults who are attracted to each other. It's no one's business but ours." I said. He gave me a quick kiss and said he would be back in a few minutes. As I waited for Jay to come back I got out of bed and put on my emerald green satin robe. I grabbed my crutches off the floor and headed out to the living room. As I walked towards the kitchen I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror over the fireplace. My auburn hair was in a curly disarray and my cheeks were flushed. My eyes were sparkling and for the first time in a long time I was extremely satisfied and relaxed. I was smiling as I poured two fresh glasses of wine. As I placed the wine bottle back in the fridge, I heard my front door open and close. "I thought you might be thirsty." I said as Jay came around the corner. As Jay looked at me, he smiled and said "You're beautiful, you know that?" causing me to blush. I smiled at him and told him that I thought that exact sentiment about him from the moment I saw him when I opened my eyes in the airport and he was standing in front of Ramon and I. Jay gave me a quick soft kiss before picking up our glasses and heading back into the living room.

We sat on the couch, sipping our wine neither one of us wanting to say much to spoil the mood. However, the one thing he has to learn about me is I prefer to face any challenge or issue straight on. Thinking back to Kevin's words about Jay and taking it slow, I knew I would have to broach the subject with caution. "I've had a really great time with you tonight. I'm glad my friends, who along with your friends, came up with an elaborate plan to get us together." I said. "What do you mean? I thought Stella was sick." he said. "You haven't checked your phone in a while, have you?" I asked smiling. Jay reached for his phone to see he received the same text I had when we were in bed. It was a picture of Gabby, Sylvie, Stella, Kim, Adam and Kevin all at Molly's holding up their drinks. The text that was sent along with the picture said "Hope you're having fun! If you haven't managed to kill each other yet we all think you'd be good for each other. Don't be mad at us. We did it because we love you both." "I guess they thought they knew something without realizing we already knew it." Jay said after putting his phone down. "Look, Jay. Neither one of us planned for this to happen. I mean six days ago we didn't even know each other. I took enough psychology classes in college to know relationships that begin due to a traumatic experience don't always last. I think we should take our time and get to know each other. No preconceived notions and no expectations. I like you. I hope you know that. What happened with you wouldn't have happened if I didn't like you and I wasn't attracted to you." I said. "Christine, I meant what I said before. Once we crossed that line there isn't any going back. There's something about you. The more I get to know you the more I want to know about you. I have things in my past that I am trying to deal with that makes it difficult for me at times. I think you're right though, we should take our time to get to know each other. I am going to talk to Voight tomorrow and let him know. I'm not sure if he is going to pull me from this case or not. I'm in over my head here. It's my fault the Cartel is in Chicago. I already let one innocent girl die because of the Cartel and I refuse to let anything happen to you." he said getting up and walking away from the couch. He stood at the window, with his back to me and finished his glass of wine. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself another glass. He brought the bottle back into the living room and refilled my glass. Sitting down and putting his arm around me, he pulled me towards him kissing the top of my head. "We shouldn't let the past affect where we are right now. I want to stay the night, if you're okay with that." he said. I flashed him a brilliant smile and said I wouldn't have it any other way...and thinking to myself what's going to happen when everyone else finds out we crossed that line.


	7. Consequences

After making love to me a second time, Jay pulled me into his arms he held me tight until we both fell asleep. I don't remember the last time I slept so soundly and it wasn't just from exhaustion due to it being almost 4:00am when we finally fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning Jay was already awake and looking at me. God, he's even sexy in the morning. I could melt each time he smiles at me. As he made love to me that morning so gently and sweetly I realized that I was about to have a major issue. I was ignoring the advice I gave the both of us last night and I could feel myself really falling for him. Although I didn't want the real world to invade the privacy of what we had here, I knew we would have to get up and leave my apartment at some point. Other than leftovers from the night before there wasn't much food in my kitchen at the moment. Jay convinced me to get up and get ready to go to brunch. I agreed only if he would come to the hotel with me afterwards. The black-tie New Year's Eve Gala was the following night and I wanted to check in with the Director of Operations and the Director of Banquets to see how the set-up was going and to ensure the Chef had everything he needed as well.

This was not supposed to happen, I told myself as I showered and got ready for brunch. It was supposed to be a casual night of fun and getting to know each other. I was not supposed to develop any sort of feelings for him. I mean it has been a really long time since I fell for anyone…never mind falling to the point where I didn't want him to date anyone else. Jesus…I'm not that girl. I'm the one who is independent and doesn't really care. I don't have time to care or time for a relationship, especially a relationship that was beginning because of a traumatic experience. Between being lost in my own thoughts and blaring country music while I was getting ready I almost had heart failure when I walked into the living room area saw four members of the Intelligence Unit sitting there. "Uh, good morning." I said. I could tell by the look on Jay's face whatever had been said to him while I was getting ready wasn't anything good. "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. "I'm pulling Halstead off the case. I'm going to suggest to my superiors we put him in a temporary WitPro set-up. His apartment was broken into last night and we got video surveillance of two of El Gato's crew casing your building. We can keep you safe by beefing up security but they really want Halstead. The closer the two of you get, the more of a liability you become to Jay, do you understand that Christine? There are consequences for your actions." Voight said. I looked at Antonio, Kevin and Adam but they wouldn't meet my eyes. I looked at Jay, scared for him, scared for myself but even in fear knowing I wasn't ready to walk away from him. "I'm going to give you two a few minutes to talk it over. We'll be downstairs talking to the Security Manager for the building. I'm also going to have him give me the information of any employee who has access to this building. We're going to run background checks on everyone and find out if anyone has a connection to the Cartel." Voight said. He turned to Jay and quietly said "Look kid. I know you care about her, but she's part of a case. What you did last night could be reason enough for the Ivory Tower to demand your shield. Don't get me wrong, she's smart, beautiful and from what I hear pretty funny but you know it won't last. Your relationship is not beginning under the right circumstances. I wish you had met at a different time and under different circumstances because I think you'd be great together but it's just not logical right now. Your head won't be in the right place and if we can't put you in WitPro then I need your head 100% focused and in the game." Voight finished and walked out the door.

I sat on the couch looking up at Jay in disbelief. "I don't know what to say. Is Voight, right? Is that the only option at this point?" I asked Jay. "I'm not leaving your side. I'm going to find a way to make up for Mariana's death and keep you safe at the same time. I refuse to hide and I refuse to let the stress you've dealt with for the past week keep eating at you. Do you realize you have nightmares? You were talking in your sleep so I knew what you were dreaming about and I'm sorry to say, it wasn't about me." he finished by joking trying to keep it light. "Jay, this is serious. What do we do here? Do we end this before it develops into anything other than a one night stand?" I asked. "No. Are you ready to go to brunch and then to the hotel?" he asked. We walked out of my apartment to find Adam standing at the door. He told us he was to guard my apartment until one of us walked out of it. We told him we were going down to talk to Voight. Shaking his head, Adam said to Jay "Look man, Kev and I support you. Maybe we didn't realize what the consequences would be when we went along with the girl's plan last night but we could tell something was already in the works between the two of you. Let's just be smart about this. We don't want either one of you to get hurt. Especially Christine, because Burgess will make me sleep on the couch forever if anything happens to her new friend." I smiled as I heard Adam's comment and Jay rubbed my back as we stood in the elevator heading down to the lobby of my building. The entire team was in the lobby talking with the building's Director of Security. "Sargent Voight, may I have a word in private with you please?" I asked surprising both Jay and Adam. Apparently, this wasn't part of their plan. "What are you doing?" Jay hissed at me. "I'm making sure you don't get removed from this case. Trust me, I can be very persuasive." I said. "I don't doubt that." Adam replied as Jay stood silently. I could see the little tick in the side of his cheek which I had come to realize meant he was a sign that he was not happy.

Voight walked over and sat down in one of the sofas in the lobby of the building. His team kept a close watch over us as I hobbled over on my crutches and sat down. "Sargent, first off I want to thank you for everything you and your team have done to ensure my safety and the safety of my Dad. I appreciate that more than you could ever know. Jay and I talked upstairs about your concerns. We also talked quite a bit about the situation last night as well. I don't know the entire story yet, and I want him to be the one who tells me, but I do know he feels responsible and believes everything that has happened leading up to this point is his fault. I would never tell you how to do your job, just as I would never expect you to tell you how to do my job, but I honestly don't believe taking him off of this case and forcing him into hiding is going to benefit the case, your relationship with Jay on a personal and professional level, your team and it's definitely not going to benefit Jay emotionally. It will send him down a rabbit hole that will take years to come out of. Especially if anyone else someone ends up hurt. He would never forgive himself. I'm sure you've seen it happen in the past. As for my relationship with Jay. We are both grown, consenting adults who I would like to think can separate personal from professional. It seems I am developing a personal relationship, of a different nature, with multiple people in your unit. Many of which I am beginning to consider friends in such a short time. Even Ruzek, over there, who is such a pain in the ass and determined to drive my car, which will never happen by the way, I consider to be a friend. Your team has the reputation of being the best in the city. So you need to do what you always do and get these motherfuckers so we can all go back to living a semi-normal life." I finished. He looked at me, kind of astonished and laughed. "I don't know what to say. You're pretty damn good kid. Your parents raised you right and as a result you have a good head on your shoulders. I wouldn't let Ruzek drive my car either, and mine isn't nearly as nice as yours. Okay, here's what I'm proposing. Jay stays on the case. It's up to the two of you but if you want him with you every night I'm okay with that. He's going to be working on other stuff during the day and you will still have a uniform posted outside of your door each night, but I won't send him into WitPro. "As I opened my mouth to thank him, he said "I'm not done yet. Jay was messed up after Erin, who I consider to be my daughter, left him and went to New York. She cut off ties with almost everyone in Chicago other than Al and I. He went to a really dark place and then before I knew it my Commander was in my office informing me Halstead volunteered for an undercover assignment with the Cartel. We didn't have any contact with him for almost eight months. He is slowly coming around to being the old Jay. And I've seen bits and pieces of that Jay come to light when he has been around you this week, so I will thank you for that. I have two conditions when it comes to you dating Jay. The two of you are required to come to my house every Sunday for dinner so I can get a read on how he is doing. If you can't make it to my house, because of your work schedule, then I will meet the two of you at your hotel and we will have dinner there, even if it's just a burger and fries in your office, which Ruzek claims is the best burger he has ever tasted. The second condition is you stop referring to me as Sargent Voight. At this point kid you can call me Hank." We stood and I smiled at him and he said "Man, they weren't kidding when they told me you could bring a guy to his knees with that smile. Save that for Halstead." "Thank you, Hank." I said leaning over and giving him a hug. We turned around and laughed at the look of shock on everyone's face.

"Okay. Listen up. Ruzek, you're with Christine for the rest of the day. Halstead will relieve you at her office at 4:00pm. I want Dawson and Upton posted at the hotel all day today and during the day tomorrow. Tonight, I want Atwater along with Roman posted at Christine's door in the hotel. She and Halstead will be staying at the hotel tonight and tomorrow night so we will be coordinating with hotel security. There's a big Gala going on from what I understand tomorrow night to celebrate New Year's and Christine has given us all tickets to attend. Since she has to be there all of you are officially working tomorrow evening. You will be posing as guests of the gala so boys and girls it's time to get your tuxes and ballgowns out. Halstead, I'll meet you outside at my car in ten minutes." Voight said before walking out the door. "What did you say to him?" Jay asked. "I told you before, I can be very persuasive. But there were two conditions." I paused as the rest of the group laughed. "What are the conditions?" Kim asked, dying to know just like everyone else. I looked at Jay and said "Don't be mad, but while we are figuring out what is going on between the two of us we are required to have dinner with Hank at his house every Sunday night. And if I have something going on at work on a Sunday night that I have to be there for, the three of us will have dinner at the hotel, either in my office or in the restaurant depending on how busy it is. The second condition is that I no longer refer to him as Sargent Voight." "What?" I said as they all stood there in stunned silence. "He obviously likes you and is okay, for now, with everything." Jay said walking over to me and putting his arms around me. He leaned over, kissed me and said he would see me later that afternoon. "Be careful." I said to him. "Always." he said before turning to Ruzek saying "Keep her safe. I'll see you guys in a few hours."

Ruzek and I headed up back up to my apartment so I could pack for the next two nights. My gown was already hanging in my office at the hotel so I could fit everything else I needed into a large overnight bag. "Are you hungry?" I called to Adam from my bedroom. "I could eat." he replied. "Help yourself to the leftovers in the fridge. Would you mind heating me up a bowl of the pasta in the microwave? And leave me a piece of cold pizza on the counter. Everything else is up for grabs." I said. As I finished packing my bag I left it on my bed because I couldn't carry it and use my crutches at the same time. As I headed out towards the living room I heard a knock on the door. Adam, with his gun drawn, put his finger to his lips and then motioned for me to go back into my bedroom. This was getting beyond ridiculous. I was tired of being scared and wished they could just catch these assholes. Adam yelled to me giving me the okay to come back out of my bedroom. I walked out to see Connor standing in my kitchen and realized I needed his date's name to add to the invite list for the Gala. When I asked him about it he said he was going solo. I told him there would be plenty of single, eligible women at the party. He ignored my comment and told me to go put on a pair of shorts so he could check my leg. When Adam asked what had happened to my leg, besides the obvious being shot, Connor went into detail about how I somehow didn't feel the need to use my crutches last night when Jay was there. Not only that but he mentioned how disheveled I looked when he showed up to stitch me back up. He looked at me and said something similar to what Hank said an hour before "There are always consequences for your actions." Tho, coming from Connor it sounded a hell of a lot less ominous than it did coming from Hank Voight.


	8. An Unwanted Guest

December 30th passed in a whirlwind. Adam could barely keep up with me as I quickly moved, on my crutches, from one area of the hotel to another overseeing the set-up of tomorrow evening's New Year's Eve Gala. When Adam asked why this event was such a big deal, I explained to him "We are anticipating 250 guests, mostly VIP's from the city along with other invited guests. Half of the proceeds from each ticket purchased will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This will be the third time we have hosted the event, the first Gala took place three years ago, which was only a month after the hotel opened. Each year, the Executive Committee votes on a charity that will receive the proceeds. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a charity that is very near and dear to my heart so I am excited that the number of tickets purchased will result in a nice donation...a donation upwards of $30,000.00." I paused, turning to look at him with concern and worry written all over my face, "Adam, I can't risk anything going wrong tomorrow night. I need you guys to make sure none of the crap from the past week spills over to this event. It's way too important, not only to me and my career, but to the community and the hotel staff as well." Before he could answer, I moved away to discuss the menu one last time with the Executive Chef when I heard a voice with a slight accent from behind me say "Excuse me for interrupting, but are you Ms. Brennan, the General Manager?" I turned and looked up meeting the disapproving eyes of someone I had never seen before. "Yes. I am. How may I help you today?" I asked smiling, while warning bells were going off in my head. "I have a message for Halstead from El Gato and Ramon. You are to deliver the message." he said with a sick smile on his face. "Adam!" I screamed. "Bitch, you tell Halstead he isn't going to get away with being the reason Mariana is dead and as payback he's not going to be able to save you either." he said pulling out a knife aiming for my face. Before he could make contact, Adam tackled him as Dawson and Upton rushed into the Ballroom, followed by Stephen, the Director of Security. As Upton and Stephen took him down to the detention cell adjacent to the Security Office, I turned to Adam and Antonio and hissed "My office. Now!" I then turned to my Chef with a sweet, calm smile on my face and said "Chef Daniel, my apologies. I will meet you in your office in thirty minutes to continue our conversation and sign off on the description for the menu cards." As Adam and Antonio escorted me to my office I could feel my temper begin to boil over. "How the hell did he get in here?" I asked angrily. "What is the point of having extra security if the Cartel can still get to me? What is the point of having Chicago PD with me 24/7 if you can't fucking protect me? I can't have this shit follow me to work. There are members of the Board who are looking to get rid of me because of my age and because I am female. The Chairman of the Board freaked out when my name was somehow leaked to the press after the airport incident. I've worked too hard to let whatever the fuck the Cartel is doing mess up my career and my future. Because let me tell you, I'm going to have a future because there's no way they are going to kill me, or anyone else I care about. I'm expecting the two of you and the rest of Intelligence to come up with a really good plan for tomorrow night because what just happened can't happen again."

I turned to walk out of my office and saw Jay, Hank and Al standing in the doorway. I was too furious to talk to any of them at that point, and I saw the hurt in Jay's eyes as I maneuvered my way out of his grasp. "I need to go meet with my Chef and then make sure the rest of my staff isn't too freaked out by what just happened. Hank, I'm assuming you heard what I said to Dawson and Ruzek. I expect that you will come up with a better plan to ensure that this doesn't happen again." I continued down the hall when I decided I had enough of the crutches for good. Risking the angry lecture Connor was sure to give me, if he had to stitch me up again, I left my crutches at my Assistant's desk and walked out of the Executive Offices and headed in the direction of the kitchen. As I continued about my day, I didn't see anyone shadowing me which was both a relief and a little worrisome. What I didn't realize, after I left my office, Jay had tried to come after me. "Halstead, hold up. Let her cool off. This mistake was on us. How did the perp get in here?" Voight demanded to know. "I don't know Sarge. I mean I was by her side the entire time. I gave her a little space and was at another table while she was going over stuff for tomorrow night with the Chef. I didn't notice the guy in the room until he was already talking to her." Ruzek replied. Shit, he thought to himself as Dawson said he and Upton never saw the perp enter the hotel either. Ruzek's thoughts raced on...Halstead looks like he wants to kill me. And if he tells Burgess what almost happened I'll definitely be on the couch for a couple of weeks. "Sarge, do you want me to go find Christine? Stick with her for the rest of the day?" Ruzek asked Voight. "No. Ruzek, I want you and Al to take this guy back to the District. Throw him in an interrogation room and see if you can get anything out of him. I doubt we will be able to. The Cartel never rats on their own. I still want you to pull his information and see what you can use on him." Voight replied. Turning to Jay, he said "Halstead, take a walk with me." As Jay and Voight made their way out of my office, Jay saw my crutches and grabbed them shaking his head. "You better be careful with those. Your girl might just be angry enough to hit all of us with those." Voight said laughing. "Look Jay, I saw the look on your face when she avoided you. You should know by now what it's like to date an independent woman. Yes, there are times she will lean on you, but she is scared and pissed off right now. It's a situation she hasn't been in before and apparently after the well-deserved lashing she gave Ruzek, Dawson and me I'm willing to bet she wanted to calm down before she talked to you. I'm also willing to bet she is thinking your relationship is too new, and I mean less than 24 hours new, for her to be taking things out on you. She's a tough girl and from what I've read on her she is used to taking care of herself and everyone around her. She has similar qualities to Erin in that way, but she is completely different from Erin at the same time. She's going to be good for you if we can just put this mess with the Cartel to bed. I'm going to head back to the District to see how Al and Ruzek are making out with our friend. I'm going to send Adam and Kim back here. I'm calling in Atwater early and will see if there's anyone else besides Roman that Platt can spare for an overnight protection detail. I'm also going to have Platt contact Christine to book a bunch of rooms for the rest of us at the hotel tonight and tomorrow night. I'm not going to let her lose her job because of a mistake we could have prevented. Now go find her and stick with her for the rest of the day. " Jay looked at his Sargent, grimly smiled and thanked him.

"Detective Halstead?" a tall willowy blonde called out as Jay walked through the lobby. "Yes?" he asked turning around. "My name is Laura Connelly. I'm the Assistant GM of the Beacon. Christine asked me to find you and give you a key to the suite the two of you will be staying in." she replied. After thanking Laura, Jay asked if she knew where I was. "If she's not up in the suite, she is probably up on the roof freezing her ass of." Laura said. "The roof?" Jay asked. "She likes to go up there sometimes to think if there is a problem she is trying to work out. Look, she's under a lot of stress and I could hear the yelling from my office. Just so you know, she typically isn't a yeller but I'm sure she is close to her breaking point. Please let me know if you need anything during your stay." Laura told him before turning and heading back into the Executive Offices. Jay, turning in the direction of the service elevators which would lead to the roof, noticed Atwater walking through the front doors of the hotel. "Kevin, with me." he said, quickening his pace. "What do you need? Where are we headed" Kevin asked. "To the roof. Christine's either up there or in one of the guest suites. I need to find her. We don't currently have eyes on her." Jay replied. As Jay and Kevin made their way to the roof, I leaned over the railing looking out over the city. I couldn't help but think everything was going to come crashing down around me over the next 24 hours. I had worked my entire career to get to where I was and just because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time I was about to lose everything. Christ, I thought to myself, after my display in my office and walking out I'm sure Jay was going to change his mind about me as well. I heard "Galway Girl" on my cell phone and I looked noticing the main number for the 21st District appear on the caller ID. I took a deep breath, put a smile on my face and answered the phone "Good Afternoon. This is Christine Brennan. How may I help you?" "Christine, this is Sargent Trudy Platt with the 21st. How are you today? Actually, don't answer that. I've heard what's been going on so I'm sure you're not having the best day. If you need help keeping those guys in line down there you let me know. I'll come over there and show them how things are done." she said, making me laugh. "What can I do for you Sargent?" I asked, wondering why someone else from the District was calling me now. "Hank Voight asked me to give you a call. Because of the severity of the situation with the Cartel, he is requesting rooms be set aside for his team for tonight and tomorrow night. I'm not sure the best way to go about making these reservations. The department will cover the cost of the rooms, but I'm not paying for them to be drinking and eating everything that's in the mini-bar. My husband and I stayed at your hotel the night of our wedding and it was beautiful. Beautiful but expensive. First class all the way. You have done a fantastic job there." she replied. "Sargent Platt, if you wouldn't mind e-mailing me the names of everyone who needs a room I would appreciate it. If you and your husband don't have plans for tomorrow evening I would be honored if you would be my guests at the New Year's Eve Gala and if you would allow me to treat you to a complimentary night's stay as a belated wedding gift." I said, smiling, thinking to myself I already liked the cantankerous cop and I hadn't met her in person yet. After convincing her I wouldn't get in trouble, she happily agreed, telling me she would email me the names for the reservations and she and her husband, who was a firefighter, looked forward to meeting me tomorrow.

"That was very nice of you." Jay said from behind me. I turned to see him standing by the door with Kevin. "How did you find me?" I asked warily, trying to gauge his mood. I didn't see the tick in his cheek so I was currently doing okay. "Laura told me you would either be in our suite or on the roof. I got nervous at first when she mentioned the roof, not realizing you turned it into a little sanctuary up here." he replied. "It's much nicer when the snow is gone and I can bring out the wicker furniture. Yeah it gets hot but sometimes it's nice to just have fifteen minutes to myself during the craziness of my day." I told them. "Well, I don't know about the two of you but I am freezing. What do you say we go back inside where there's heat and it's not snowing?" Kevin said since it started flurrying while I was on the phone. As we went back inside I asked where Adam was considering he was my normal daytime babysitter. After being told I had the pleasure of being stuck with the two of them, Jay handed me my crutches. I glared at him and hobbled my way into the service elevator. "I need to finish a few things in my office and then I think I'm going to head up to the room to take a nap." I told them. "Are you okay?" Jay asked. "Not really. I have a headache and I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm a little tired." I said blushing as I thought about our night together. That was the only good part of my day...the memories from our night together in my apartment. The two of them followed me into my office and I blocked them out as I checked my e-mail. I had received the list from Trudy Platt and I smiled at the note she wrote in the body of the e-mail:

 _Christine-_

 _Thank you for the sweet gesture of inviting Randall and I to the Gala tomorrow evening. We are beyond thrilled and very appreciative of your generous gift. I know this is a stressful time for you and if I was you I would be trying to figure out a way to run away, but from what I've been told by everyone in Intelligence and by Officer Roman, that's not your style. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, even if it's just a shoulder to lean on, someone to vent to or cry to. From what I hear, Detective Halstead has two shoulders he is willing to give you. Jay is a good man and a great Detective (if you ever tell him I said that I will deny it). He has had a rough year, as I'm sure someone has told you already, and he deserves to be happy. Now I'm not the sweet and sappy type, but Halstead is one of my favorites so be good to each other and lean on each other. He's worth all the shit that I'm sure comes with him. Look forward to meeting you in person._

 _Trudy Platt_

I smiled and then I opened up the e-mail attachment to see the rooming list. They were sweet, mostly rooming up with each other to try to not take up too many rooms. I would have to make some changes to the rooming list because I'm sure Kim would rather sleep in the same room as Adam instead of Hailey. I forwarded the list to my Front Office Manager and made the changes so the rooming list read:

Adam Ruzek and Kim Burgess – 1 King Size Bed (10th Floor - Near Elevator)

Antonio Dawson and Kevin Atwater – 2 Queen Size Beds (9th Floor – Near Elevator)

Hailey Upton – 1 King Size Bed (9th Floor – Near South Stairwell)

Sean Roman & TBD – 2 Queen Size Beds (9th Floor – Near North Stairwell)

Al Olinsky – 1 King Size Bed (10th Floor – Near South Stairwell)

Hank Voight – 1 King Size Bed (10th Floor – Near North Stairwell)

Trudy Platt and Randall McHolland – Complimentary Executive Suite (9th Floor) with Full Breakfast / Send Champagne And Strawberry Amenity Upon Arrival With Note From GM

* * *

Because Jay and I would be staying on the 10th Floor, which was the top floor of the hotel, Hank wanted to ensure that members of his team were posted on each ends of the floor below us as well as on our floor. He seemed confident that they had all of their bases covered. Once I finished with the rooming list and wrote out a note to be included with Trudy and Mouch's (an odd nickname I thought to myself) welcome amenity I emailed the menu card layout to the printer. I then arranged for the menu cards to be delivered by 12:00pm the next afternoon. As I finished I noticed it was dark outside. I looked at the Waterford Crystal Lismore Clock on my desk and was surprised to see it was 6:00pm. "So much for taking a nap." I said to Jay and Kevin. "I'm done for the day. Let me see if I can get the Chef to whip up something for all of us and we'll eat in the Executive Conference Room. Is everyone here on property?" I asked. When I was told everyone other than Al and Hank were here I decided to call the kitchen and beg the Chef for food. Chef Daniel is one of the best I have ever worked with over the years. He and I have a very good working relationship and I don't find him as temperamental as most Executive Chef's tend to be. I asked him if it was possible to have a mini buffet created for 15 – 20 people (figuring I would include my management team currently on property in the dinner count as well). The menu would be of his choosing. He told me we would have a Caesar Salad, Butternut Squash Bisque, Herb Roasted Chicken Breast with Artichokes and Tomatoes, Roasted Beef Tenderloin with a Demi-Glace, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus and whatever dessert the Pastry Chef wanted to give us. He finished by saying we would eat it and we would like it. "Chef Daniel, did someone already call you about dinner? You listed off that menu quite quickly." I said. After telling me he and the Director of Banquets decided to put together a dinner for the police department they also set up one of the smaller function rooms we could use for dinner. I was shocked and as I thanked him he told me dinner would be ready in thirty minutes. Then he recommended I go to bed since tomorrow was going to be such a long day for all of us. I turned to Jay and Kevin, with an amused smile on my face, and told them to let everyone else know dinner would be ready at 6:30pm in the Boylston Room on the third floor. After a very enjoyable and somewhat relaxing meal, I went up to my room. I was escorted by Roman since Jay and the rest of the Unit were having a last minute meeting and walk-thru with the hotel's security team. Roman informed me he would be outside my door until 3:00am and then Kevin would be taking over for a while. He opened the door and walked through the suite making sure it was safe. I walked inside barely noticing the beautiful décor and the stunning view. I went straight into the bathroom to wash my face. I quickly got ready for bed and didn't event turn the TV on as I crawled into the plush pillow top king-size bed with 800 thread count sheets. I was so exhausted I'm pretty sure I was asleep before my head ever hit the pillow.


	9. No One To Kiss At Midnight

I never heard Jay come into the room during the night, but when I woke up at 8:00am the next morning I found myself wrapped in his arms. Not sure as to what time he came to bed, I quietly got up and walked into the living room of the suite. I knew this would be pretty much the only opportunity I would have to eat until dinner, which wasn't being served until 9:00pm tonight, so I decided to order room service. I opened the door of the suite and peered out into the hallway to see who was on guard duty. When I saw Kevin standing there talking to Roman I asked if they had eaten. Neither one had eaten so I told them I was ordering breakfast for the four of us. I then asked why they were both there when Roman should be sleeping since he had been on duty until 3:00am. They told me there had been a development during the course of the evening so Voight instructed they both guard my room for the entire evening. When I asked what it was, they told me Hank wanted to see me at 11:00am in my office and it really wasn't anything major to worry about. I went back into the room and placed the room service order. I took a quick shower and put on jeans and a navy blue sweater, throwing my hair up in a messy bun, knowing I had hours to go before I showered again and had my hair and make-up done for tonight's Gala. After getting dressed, I woke Jay up to let him know breakfast would be delivered shortly. "I never heard you come in last night." I said to him. "You were sleeping so peacefully I didn't want to wake you." He replied. I told him about Voight wanting to see me and he seemed surprised that his phone didn't ring last night if there was an incident involving the Cartel that took place. We quickly ate breakfast and as Kevin and Roman went back to their room to get some sleep Jay and I headed down to my office. I held a 10:00am meeting in my office with the Front Office Manager, the Housekeeping Manager and the Food & Beverage Manager to make sure we were set for the large number of check-ins that would be arriving over the next few hours. Housekeeping had scheduled staff early and was pretty confident guests would not have to wait for rooms to be cleaned when they tried to check-in. The Food & Beverage Manager guaranteed me that the restaurant and lounge would be fully staffed and ready to welcome guests as they arrived. I thanked them and then told Jay I needed to head to the Ballroom and then to the Kitchen before we met with Hank. After feeling pretty good about the progress the Banquet and Kitchen teams were making, we headed back down to my office to meet with Hank.

Jay and I were sitting on the sofa in my office when Hank and Al walked in. Without saying a word, they each sat down in the chairs that flanked the sofa and Hank placed a manila envelope on the table in front of us. "What? What's with the cloak and dagger routine? We know something happened last night but don't know any details. Hank, tell us what's going on." I said, my eyes pleading with him. "We ran background checks on everyone who works in your apartment building and everyone who works at the hotel. Just about everyone came up clean. That is everyone except your Executive Assistant. Apparently, Brianna's aunt is married to El Gato's brother. She has a connection which means she is a threat to you at this point." Al said. "I don't believe it. Brianna has been on my staff for almost a year now. There's no way she could have anything to do with this. I mean there is no way the Cartel could have known that Brianna's boss would be at that restaurant in the airport on that day and that Jay and I would end up together. It has to be some crazy kind of coincidence." I tried to explain making sense of it in my head. "That may be the case Christine, but we can't leave anything to chance at this point. Is she scheduled to be at the Gala tonight?" Hank asked me. "Yes. She is coming." I responded. When he asked me if Bri was bringing a date I got up to check the guest list which was saved on my computer. "I have her RSVP'd for a plus one. Her plus one's name is Carlo Sosa." "Are you sure it's Carlo and not Carlos?" Hank asked. I nodded and he turned to Al telling him to have Ruzek run everything he can find on Carlo Sosa. "Christine, we are going to have to grab them when they arrive. Do you know what time she will be coming? Is she staying at the hotel tonight?" Hank asked. "No. She's not a manager so she is not permitted to stay over. I believe when she left yesterday she said she would see me around 7:30pm. That's the start of the cocktail hour. Cocktail hour runs from 7:30pm – 8:30pm in the Ballroom Foyer. We then open doors to the Ballroom at 8:30pm. I'm scheduled to give a speech and introduce a video about the Make-A-Wish Foundation at 8:45pm. Dinner service starts at 9:00pm and then after dinner it's drinking and dancing until the New Year's Countdown. I considered her a friend. Do you think this could have all been orchestrated from when Jay was undercover? I can't even imagine how that is possible." I said, trying to think back if there were any signs I missed over the past year. "I have to head to the ballroom for a very early pre-meal meeting and then I need to go get ready for the Gala and do a final walk-thru with the Director of Banquets and the Executive Chef at 5:00pm." I told them. "Hank, you'll be able to handle this discreetly tonight, right? My job is definitely on the line if anything goes wrong." I told him trying to stress the importance of tonight. "We will do our best. It's our first priority to keep you and Halstead safe. I hope you understand that. We are going to meet with your Security Team and put together a plan for tonight. We will take care of it." he replied. "I need to see the shoes you are wearing tonight." Al said to me. "What? Why?" I asked. Al explained they were going to insert a tracking device into the heel of my shoe and one into the heel of Jay's shoe. That way if anything went wrong they would be able to track us. "I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse." I said rising and walking over to the credenza behind my desk. I pulled out a shoe box containing a pair of silver and black Jimmy Choo strappy stiletto sandals that fastened around the ankle and added four inches to my 5'1 frame. "Try not to do any damage to my shoes. I really like them and haven't had the opportunity to wear them yet." I said, noticing the sad tone in my voice. "I'll have Halstead bring them up to your suite when I'm done." Al replied. "Wait, I have a question about the shoes." Jay said as I was heading out of my office. I stopped to look at him, and he grinned at me, before asking "How are you going to manage your crutches with four inch heels on?" "Easily." I said. "Considering the crutches are staying in my room. They don't quite go with my attire for the evening." I said flashing him a grin before I hobbled out of my office.

A few hours later, I had showered again and was sitting in a chair while my makeup was being carefully applied by the makeup artist the hotel recommends to all of our brides. I have dark auburn hair with eyes the same color blue as the Caribbean Ocean and porcelain skin with a light sprinkling of freckles so I wanted to focus on accentuating my eyes and my lips. It was New Year's Eve so even tho I had to be professional I wanted to have some fun with my makeup. She created a smoky eye that also had a silver sparkle to it. I don't normally wear dark lipstick but loved the dark red shade she used so much that I bought it from her. After my makeup was done my hair stylist went to work. Because my dress was strapless I wanted to leave my hair mostly down but pulled away from my face. Nicole decided to straighten my hair making sure it was smooth and shiny before adding some height to the portion she pulled off my face. She left a few loose strands framing my face, softening the look. I slipped my feet into the stilettos, that Al had thankfully not destroyed and then it was time for me to put my dress on. I bought the gown specifically for tonight's Gala. It was a black strapless floor length dress that had silver and white flowers that began near the top of the dress and curved their way down around my body and ending on the small train that flowed out behind me. I walked out into the living room of the suite where Jay was waiting for me. Oh My God, I thought to myself. I have never seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life than Jay Halstead in a tuxedo. "There are no words to describe how truly stunning you are." Jay said to me, his eyes smoldering and voice sounding a little strained. I blushed and thanked him and told him I recognized that look in his eyes and there was no way he was getting me out of this dress until after the Gala. He laughed and took my hand leading the way out of the suite.

I tried to focus on the walk-thru with my team and not on the security measures that had been put in place. I also tried to put Bri and her boyfriend out of my mind. I had a job to do and the Intelligence Unit had their job to do as well. I was beyond pleased with how the Ballroom looked. We went for a black, silver and deep blue décor this year. The Make-A-Wish logo was showcased in white lighting on the black dance floor. The table linens were black with royal blue napkins set under the silver beaded glass charger plates. The menu card featuring the Make-A-Wish logo was placed prominently on each charger plate. The centerpieces alternated between high and low arrangements consisting of white roses dipped in silver. Candles sparkled from the silver votive holders around the base of each arrangement. I was very happy with the setting the team created. Jay looked impressed as well. We were about to go check the Ballroom Foyer when I got called up to the stage by one of the hotel's audio visual technicians. "Ms. Brennan? Can you please come up to the podium for a moment? We just want to make sure we have the spotlight set correctly." As I started to walk towards the stage, Jay held me back. I noticed he had an ear piece in and was talking to someone else. He walked to the stage next to me and said "Detective Upton is close to Ms. Brennan's height tonight. She will stand at the podium and you can focus the light on her." I looked at him in confusion. He explained Antonio, Kevin and Adam still had to do the walk-thru of the stage area before they were letting me go up there. He assured me we would be all set before I had to go up there.

Before I knew it, guests were arriving and my nerves mostly disappeared. Jay stayed by my side as I greeted guests. I was a little surprised that he knew quite a few people in attendance. At one point during the cocktail hour he told me it was his turn to introduce me to someone. We walked over to a couple and right away I knew who it was. "Sarge...Mouch, I'd like to introduce you to Christine Brennan. She is the General Manager of the Beacon Hotel and she was instrumental in putting this together tonight." Jay said. Trudy looked at me, smiled and then said "She's too pretty for you Halstead. Definitely out of your league. Seriously, it is so nice to meet you. Thank you for the invitation, the beautiful room and wonderful amenity. You didn't have to do that." I smiled and responded "It truly is my pleasure. I hope you have a wonderful time tonight. If you need anything during your stay, you have my cell phone number so please don't hesitate to reach out." "Christine..." I heard a familiar voice from behind me. "Connor! Don't you look handsome in your tuxedo! Tho I wouldn't expect anything less from a Rhodes." I said smiling up at him. "That smile isn't going to work on me. Where are your crutches? I'm not stitching you up again. Next time you can go back to the E.D. and deal with Maggie." "Now Connor Rhodes, don't be mean. Of course, you will stitch me up. I know what room you're staying in tonight so if I need my stitches repaired all I have to do is send someone to get you." I said to him as I tucked my arm through his, leading him across the foyer. "I have someone I want you to meet. Laura, have you met Connor? No...oh well, Laura Connelly, my Assistant General Manager, right hand woman and dear friend, let me introduce you to my neighbor, friend and most recently my surgeon, Dr. Connor Rhodes. I'm going to trust you to be a gentleman Connor. Laura is used to Southern Gentleman so try to behave." I said grinning walking away. "She is something else." I heard Connor say before turning to Laura and asking if he could get her a drink. I walked back to where I left Jay with Trudy and Mouch to let him know I was going to head into the Ballroom to do one last walk-thru before doors opened.

Jay walked into the Ballroom with me and I noticed most of his team was strategically positioned through the Ballroom. I had noticed Kim, looking very hot in a fitted off the shoulder red gown, out in the Foyer with Adam at the beginning of the cocktail hour. Ruzek actually cleaned up nicely and looked handsome in his tux. Hailey and Kevin were in the Ballroom checking to make sure there had been no last minute changes. I knew Antonio, Hank and Al had to be around somewhere but I hadn't seen them yet. My nerves were starting to kick in knowing I would have to get up on stage in a few minutes. I turned to Jay asking if it was okay for me to head up to the podium so I could get used to the feel of being on stage. He was talking to someone through his ear piece again and I heard him say "Copy Antonio." "You have the all clear. Let's head up to the stage." he said grabbing hold of my hand. "Jay" I whispered. "Has there been any sign of Bri or her boyfriend?" "Not yet." he responded. After I tested the microphone at the podium I gave the nod to the Director of Banquets letting him know his staff could open the doors and greet guests with champagne as they sat down. I took my seat at a table towards the front of the room with Jay seated on my right. Adam and Kim were seated to my left. I also chose to have Connor and Laura seated on my table along with the head of the Chicago Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and her husband. Antonio and Hailey were at the table directly to my right and Kevin, Al and Hank would be seated at the table to the left. However, I still hadn't seen Al or Hank yet. "Relax." Jay said. Once everyone had been seated the DJ, who was our Master of Ceremonies for the evening called my name. I put a smile on my face as I headed up the stairs to the stage, took a deep breath and started my speech. "Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman! Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the third annual Beacon Hotel New Year's Eve Gala..." As my speech continued I noticed Hank and Al took their seats and Hank, ever so slightly, shook his head at Jay. I finished my opening speech without incident and watched as the lights dimmed and the Make-A-Wish Foundation video presentation began. As I continued to watch, with a smile, that didn't quite reach my eyes, plastered on my face, I heard my name being called from the side of the stage. It was Brianna. "Christine, please. I need to talk to you. Whatever they think I'm part of I'm not." I continued to ignore her trying to get the attention of Jay or one of the others without attracting too much attention. They were all watching the video. I was thankful when the video ended and the lights came back up. I must have been white as a ghost because Jay and Adam automatically jumped to their feet. I nodded to my right where Bri's voice had come from and they disappeared out the side door. I knew I needed to finish my speech..."So thanks to your generosity in purchasing a ticket, or in some cases multiple tickets, to tonight's Gala we will be donating $31,250.00 from the Beacon Hotel to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Chicago. Not only that but I will be matching that donation personally bringing tonight's total donation to $62,500.00. I hope you all have a wonderful evening. Enjoy the amazing meal our Executive Chef and culinary team have created, specifically, for tonight. I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year." The DJ began to play music as the waitstaff quickly began serving the first course and pouring wine. As the first notes of music came over, Kevin came up the stage stairs to escort me back to my seat. "Your shaking." Kim said. "You did an amazing job up there but I can physically see you shaking. What happened?" "Jay and Adam didn't let you know?" I said the fear written across my face. We were then joined by the rest of the team. "Bri is here. She kept calling to me during the video presentation. Jay and Adam went to go find her. You have to find them." "Our coms went out during the video presentation and haven't come back up. Burgess, call Roman on his cell phone and tell him to get in here uniform and all. I want the two of you watching her. We will play it off that he is an invited guest. Christine, you are doing a great job of holding it together. I need you to keep it together for a little while longer while I go get Jay and Adam. Remember, your job is dependent on this and we are going to make sure you keep your job. You just need to keep that smile on your face and charm the room the way I've seen you do all night. We'll be back before you know it." Hank said before disappearing out the side entrance with Al, Kevin, Antonio and Hailey on his heels.

Roman appeared out of nowhere and took the seat Jay had previously occupied. I turned to Kim and said "I can't do this. I need to know what's going on. I need to know he is safe." "Oh My God!" she exclaimed. "You've fallen in love with him! That was quick! Holy shit!" "Jesus, Kim, now is not the time for that." Roman scolded her. "I need to make rounds to the tables. Neither one of you can come with me. It would be obvious that something is wrong." "We will follow at a distance. I'm not risking what Voight or Halstead might do if anything happens on our watch." Roman said. As I excused myself, Connor stood, taking my hand and asked if I was okay. He knew what was going on and all I could do was shake my head. By the time I had stopped at all thirty-one other tables there was no sign of anyone from Intelligence. Even Kim was gone and it was just Roman following me. I saw him talking to Platt as I walked back to my table and sat next to Connor. I asked him and Laura how the food was and they said it was amazing. That had been the general consensus from each table I stopped at. I excused myself and told Connor and Laura I was heading to the Ladies Room. Connor insisted on escorting me, at least to the door, while Laura continued to entertain our guests from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I grabbed my black clutch off the table as Connor guided me by my elbow through the crowd and out into the Foyer. "I'll wait for you here." Connor said smiling as I headed into the restroom. As I stood, attempting to fix my makeup and add some color to my cheeks, the bathroom door opened and Connor came in with his hands up as a man held a gun to his back.

"So, you're the one who is causing all the problems. Ramon was right, you are hot. He gave me permission to have a little fun with you before I cut you up and deliver you piece by piece back to Halstead and Voight. From what Brianna tells me they've grown very fond of you. She thinks Halstead is in love with you which means he's going to go crazy when he gets the first piece of you. What piece do you think I should send first Doc? Maybe her ear? Or maybe I should cut out that beautiful eye of hers. I've never seen an eye that shade of blue before. God, we are going to have some fun, puta." he said to me. "Who are you?" I asked him. "Oh, I apologize for not introducing myself. How rude of me. My girlfriend knows me as Carlo Sosa but my friends know me as Little Ricky. Now Doc, this is gonna hurt but my car is already full so you can't come with us. When you wake up let the good Detective know I'm the one that will be kissing his girlfriend at midnight and I'll be sending him special deliveries over the next few days." Little Ricky finished by knocking Connor unconscious as he hit him in the head with his gun. "Connor!" I screamed. Before looking at the man pointing a gun at me and I said "I'm not going anywhere with you and I'm definitely not kissing you at midnight, you fucking lunatic." "Ramon said you were feisty. We are definitely going to have a good time tonight, puta." He responded. "Call me bitch one more time and you're going to wish your mother had kept her legs closed. You are so dead, you know that, right? It's not just the Chicago cops you have to worry about. I have family, powerful family in Boston that no one knows about. They will find you and cut you up into a million pieces if you don't let me go. And the thing is they'll enjoy it more than you will enjoy anything your little pea-size brain could imagine doing to me!" I yelled at him. "Let's go." He said, dragging me out the bathroom door and down a back stairwell. "You know there are cops all over the place tonight. You're not going to get out of here dumbass." I said, taunting him. The next thing I knew the fire alarm was going off in the hotel and we slipped out the side door as the cops, posted at the entrance, ran in through the front door.

"Help! Help me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I tried to get out of Little Ricky's grasp. "God, doesn't this bitch ever shut up?" He asked the person sitting in the car. "No. She doesn't. She thinks she is better than everyone." Bri responded. "Just knock her out already and throw her in the trunk. We need to get out of here before someone notices she is gone and they set up road blocks." "You bitch! You're going down with your boyfriend. I hope you both enjoy either death or jail because that's the only way this ends for the two of you." I yelled, squirming still trying to escape. My last thought before everything went black was I would have no one to kiss at midnight. I was supposed to kiss Jay, the man who made me fall in love with him in just over a week, at midnight to ring in the New Year, and now I wasn't going to have anyone to kiss.


	10. Fighter

"Where the hell could she be? Roman you were the last one to see her. Where was she when you were talking to Platt?" Jay demanded to know, trying to keep his voice calm and his fists at his side. He was starting to panic. The fire alarms were going off and no one had seen me leave the Ballroom with Connor. "Jay, over here." Upton yelled to him. She had propped open the door to the Ladies Room and was helping Connor to his feet. Walking into the bathroom Jay's eyes scanned the room for me, landing on my black clutch that sat on the counter. "Connor? What happened?" Voight asked, coming up behind Jay. "Christine was upset in the Ballroom and really needed a break. She was shaking by the time she got off the stage when she finished her speech. Then she had to go around to every table to greet guests, thank them and personally wish them a Happy New Year. The bullshit that comes from either being a member of my family or comes from being a person of her stature. She couldn't have Roman or Kim follow her around because there would be too much speculation so they watched her from different sides of the Ballroom. Then Kim disappeared and next thing I knew Christine was back at the table. She mentioned having to use the Ladies Room so I escorted her and told her I would wait outside the door. I don't even know where the guy came from. One minute I was in the Foyer by myself and the next thing I knew there was a gun stuck in my back and he was pushing me into the Ladies Room. He has two names, Carlo or Carlos something or other but he said his friends know him as Little Ricky." Connor told them. "Fuck!" Antonio exclaimed. "That's Ramon's new number two since he took out Rico last week. He's a monster." Jay began pacing at that, the anguish written across his face. "I never should have left her in that room. I should have sent someone else after Brianna." "Jay, this isn't your fault. But I will tell you Little Ricky told me to give you a message. He told me to tell you that he will be sending special deliveries over the next few days. He said that after he told Christine he was going to cut her up and deliver her piece by piece to the two of you." Connor finished looking at Jay and Voight. "I wish I could tell you more but he hit me on the head and then everything went dark." "Roman, get another uniform her to escort Doc back to Chicago Med. Get that head looked at and hopefully we'll have Christine back here by the time you get back to the hotel."

"Sarge, we have to get her back. In one piece." Jay said as Trudy walked up to them. "I pulled the surveillance tapes and reviewed them. Looks like he wasn't hiding from the cameras. He pulled her out of the bathroom and down that staircase over there. Looks like he waited at the fire door for the alarm to go off knowing the cops posted outside the door would run towards the front of the building. There was a car waiting for them. A 2015 or 2016 Black Ford Escape. Al is running the plates right now and trying to get a location from the tracking device he put in her shoe. Something happened when the video started playing though. That's when your ear pieces went out as did the tracker in Jay's shoe. There's a chance her tracker went out as well. There was a female with black hair driving the car. This is her picture. The Director of Security said it is Christine's Assistant, Brianna. I think someone else from the hotel is in on it. There had to be a third person to pull the fire alarm since Brianna was already outside. I'm sorry Hank. I never should have paired those two rookies together. We're just spread really thin right now." Trudy said before turning to Jay and saying "Halstead, I meant what I said earlier. She's too good for you but you know what, I saw something in her eyes when I met her. She's not going to back down from a fight. She's a fighter. It's in her blood. And if you haven't realized it yet, she's in love with you and she's going to fight her way back to you. You need to believe that and you need to hold onto that." Turning back to Voight she asked "Where do you want me to set up a command post for you? The party is still going on in the Ballroom. Do you want to turn one of the smaller function rooms or her office into command central?" After Voight told her to use the function room everyone ate dinner in the night before, he stopped the Desk Sargent before she could walk away and asked "Trudy, what did you mean that she's a fighter and it's in her blood?" Trudy laughed and said "You didn't run a background on her when she was taken hostage? You don't know who her Uncle is on her Mother's side? Hahahaha. Who did you have run the background? Ruzek? Jesus, he missed something big. Her Uncle runs the Irish Mob in South Boston. He took over when that other guy went on the run all those years ago. Seriously, none of you knew this? Huh...girl's smarter than I thought. I wouldn't have told you either knowing it would send you running the other way, Halstead. I'm going to set up command. Give me thirty and come by for radios and new ear pieces. I'll also track the street cameras from there and see if we can follow the car that took her."

The rest of the Unit turned and looked at Jay. "Hey" he said holding his hands up, "I had no idea she was related to him. Our conversations haven't really covered much family info other than I know her Mom passed away ten years ago and her Dad is extremely important to her. We never discussed extended family." "Jay, I can see it on your face. You don't know what the relationship is like between them so don't go jumping to conclusions. She didn't betray you so stop thinking that way. Trudy is right. Christine is in love with you and I'll tell you what Halstead, if you haven't realized it yet, you're in love with her too. I need you to keep your wits about you and focus. We need to figure out where this dirtbag and his girlfriend would have taken her. They're obviously not going to go far if he's running the Chicago branch of the Cartel's business. Al, go through the hotel employee files and see if there is a connection to another employee in there we might have missed. Antonio, talk to your guys in Vice and the Gang Unit. Find out if they have any ideas to where this Little Ricky character would hide. Ruzek, Atwater, Burgess and Upton – I want you to go to Brianna's place and toss it. Find a clue. Find something that might help us locate them. If you can't find anything there then we go straight up the food chain and talk to Brianna's Aunt who we learned yesterday is in Chicago with her husband, El Gato's brother. My guess is we have less than ten hours to find her before he does exactly what he threatened to do. Now let's get to work." Voight said. "Sarge, what about me?" Jay asked. "Halstead, you have the toughest job of them all. You need to call Christine's Dad and update him. Not only do you have to update him, you are going to have to ask him for information on his dead wife's brother." Voight replied. "Shit man. Good luck. I'll text you if we find anything." Ruzek said. "Jay, we are going to find her. You have to believe that." Kim said.

Jay walked back to my office and sat down at my desk. "What else didn't you tell me, Christine?" he asked to an empty room. "Jesus" he said to himself, not wanting to make the call he needed to. "Hello?" the voice on the other end of the phone answered. "Mr. Brennan. This is Detective Halstead with Chicago PD. I'm sorry to be calling so late sir." Jay replied. "What's wrong? Is Christine okay?" my Dad asked. "Well, sir that's why I'm calling. I'm sure you know tonight was the big New Year's Eve Gala at the hotel. We had security set up but a couple of members of the Cartel managed to evade us and they have your daughter." Jay said. "Have my daughter? What do you mean, Jay? She was kidnapped? Is that what you're telling me? What do they want? Is it a ransom thing or is it because of what happened in the airport?" my Dad demanded to know. Jay went on to explain that it was an ongoing investigation but they did have leads and Jay would personally keep him updated. "Uh, Mr. Brennan. There's something else that came up in our investigation that Christine hasn't mentioned to me and my boss, Sargent Voight wanted me to see if you could shed some light on something." Jay said. "I'm guessing you're referring to my brother-in-law. I'm not surprised she didn't tell you about him. It's not a side of the family I have been close to and after my wife passed away I encouraged Christine to stay away from him but it didn't always work. I know they are still in touch but she doesn't mention it because she knows it upsets me. I think she just likes having someone else in her life, besides me, who loved her mother. Her Uncle Paddy isn't a good man to most people, but I'll tell you this. He loves my daughter and would die for her. If you can't find my daughter in the next four hours I will call him and he will find her. I don't know what that will do to your investigation but I honestly don't care. I only care about getting my daughter back in one piece." my father said angrily. "Sir, that's what I want as well. I...ah...well...you see sir, our relationship has changed since you left Chicago. I think, well that is I honestly believe, well I know that I'm in love with your daughter. She is amazing and like no one else I have ever met." Jay stuttered over his words. "Then get her back in one piece. Please, Jay. And after you do remind me to tell you the joke about the Detective, the Doctor and the Fireman that walked into the bar. But on a serious note, I mean it...four hours Jay." Before Jay could say another word he realized he had been hung up on. "Shit!" he said out loud to the empty office.

Jay walked out of my office in search of Voight. He had a feeling he would be seeing my Dad and my Uncle sooner rather than later and that was not going to make Hank happy. "Sarge, I think we are going to have a problem." he said walking into the function room that was now designated as Command Central. "Mr. Brennan is not a fan of his brother-in-law but gave us a four hour deadline to find Christine before he calls Paddy and he lets Paddy take measures into his own hands. We could end up with a serious war on our hands boss. What do you want me to do?" "Are you talking about Paddy McGuire from Boston?" Al asked, not have been updated on Sargent Platt's revelation an hour earlier. "Yeah. Paddy is the brother of her dead mother. She's the only niece in the family and, apparently, his favorite. Her Dad just told me Paddy would die for her." Jay told them. "Halstead, let's go for a ride. Al, keep me apprised of any updates or changes." Voight said grabbing a radio and heading out of the room. As Jay followed him he asked "Where are we going, Sarge?" "Well we can't track her through the device Al planted in her shoe. Whatever they used to blow out the rest of our equipment blew out her tracker so we're headed to your old stomping ground. The Southside and more specifically to Canryville. Your girl might be a fighter but I can't have a war break out in my city because of her relatives. If I can convince an old friend to help us we stand a good chance of finding her before her Dad and Uncle show up and wreak havoc on Chicago." Voight replied as they walked out of the hotel.


	11. On The Brink Of War

As Voight drove down towards Kelly's Pub in Canryville, Jay sat silently in the passenger seat. He kept replaying the night Mariana died over and over again in his head. He had tried to convince her not to go out that night. To this day he never admitted to anyone, other than one person he knew he could trust, that he had broken his cover telling her he was an undercover cop investigating her family's business, the Cartel's business, of drug running in Chicago. He would have never told her but that night she told him she was six weeks pregnant and the baby was his. As part of his cover, to get in with El Gato's crew, Jay had started dating Mariana. She was 25, beautiful with long jet-black hair, olive-colored eyes but she was also young and naïve and fell for Jay hook, line and sinker. She had been his ticket into quickly moving up the ranks of the cartel. Everything for seven months had been going to plan, a plan that had kept his mind off of Erin's abrupt departure to New York, until that night. All he could think was there would be no way in hell he would allow his kid to grow up around the cartel. That's exactly what he told Mariana. For almost seven months he had been lying to her. He begged her to leave with him. He had a place they could escape to where her family would never find them. She started crying, angry tears, screaming at him that he had betrayed her, betrayed her family and she would never be able to trust him again. She threatened to tell her family the truth about him. That stopped him in his tracks. "Mariana, your family will torture me and then kill me if you tell them. What will you tell our child when they're old enough to ask about me? Will you tell them you caused my death? Please Mari. Come with me. We can leave tonight. I love you Mariana. I'll make you happy, I promise." he said thinking to himself he didn't really love her but was desperate enough to say anything at that point. She wasn't having any of it. With tears streaming down her face, she told him she was going to see her brother Ramon. "Mari, please don't go to his bar tonight. Something's going down. I can't get into it but for the safety of our baby, for your safety, I'm telling you, begging you actually, not to go." "Fuck you, Jay." She said as she walked out the door. "Shit!" Jay yelled to the empty apartment. He rushed down the hall and into their bedroom, grabbing the burner phone that had been hidden in a compartment in the back wall of the closet. He turned the phone on and dialed the number of the one person he knew could help him...

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY:**

"Jay. Hey! Halstead, you with me?" Hank asked. "Sorry Sarge. My mind just went back to that night. The night Mariana died." Jay replied. "Jay, Christine isn't Mariana. We are going to get her back. Now I need your head in the game. I need to know you have my back when we walk thru that door." Voight said as he stepped out of his black Escalade. Jay got out, assuring his boss he was good, and the two of them headed inside. "Hey Mickey. How's it going?" Voight asked the bartender, who just grunted in return. "Mickey, I need to talk to O'Doyle. It's important, otherwise you know I wouldn't be here." Voight said. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, Voight. What brings you to my little bar, where the upstanding, hardworking citizens of Canryville like to come have a drink knowing Chicago's finest hang out at Molly's and won't bother them here? What do you need Voight?" Finn O'Doyle asked, his Irish brogue still think as the day he left Ireland forty years ago. Hank and Jay turned in the direction the voice came from and they watched O'Doyle walk out of the back room with two large guys behind him. "Hank, you remember my twin boys, Liam and Shamus, don't you?" O'Doyle asked. "Listen O'Doyle, I didn't come here to cause any trouble. I just need to know if you've heard from Paddy McGuire or anyone else in Boston over the past couple of hours." Voight said. "Aye." O'Doyle responded, "Spoke with cousin Paddy an hour or so ago. He is coming to pay his favorite niece a visit. Tho, from what he says, he needs to pick her up from the prick who kidnapped her earlier tonight. I hear that happened on your watch. You know Paddy, Hank, and how he gets when he's not happy. Well, let me give you a heads up...Paddy isn't happy with you. And, he is even less happy with one of your Detectives. I'm guessing you're Halstead." he said pausing and looking at Jay. "Boy-o you stepped in some serious shit. Not only does the Cartel want you dead, but if they hurt one hair on cousin Christine's head, you'll not only have the Cartel to contend with, you'll have the Irish from Boston and the Irish from Canryville coming for you as well." Turning back to Hank, Finn asked if he could deliver a message to Paddy when he arrived. After telling Finn to have Paddy call him, Hank and Jay walked out of the bar. Hank called Al as soon as they were back on the road. "Al, Paddy McGuire is already on a plane headed for Chicago. Get the flight plan for whatever private jet he chartered. Text everyone the information when you have it. Halstead and I are headed towards O'Hare now."

* * *

As Voight raced down the road, Jay's mind flashed back to the phone call he made the night Mariana died. "Hello?" a gruff voice answered the phone. "Sarge, I messed up bigtime. I need your help. I broke cover. Mariana is pregnant so I told her the truth. She's on her way to her brother's bar right now. She's going to rat me out. The cartel is going to kill me. Sarge, there's a raid scheduled to take place tonight at the bar. I don't want her caught up in this. At least not any more than she already is because of me. Sarge, please, I'm begging you. Tell me what to do." Jay said as he grabbed his gun, shield and truck keys. He ran outside and hopped in his truck as Voight replied "Go to the cabin. Dump your phone in the Chicago River and then buy another burner when you cross state lines. Text me the new number as soon as you have it. Do not call anyone else. I'll take care of it kid." "Hank, I can't leave. She's carrying my child." Jay said but he was cut off by the one person he could trust right now. "Jay, you won't be good to either one of them if Ramon or El Gato kills you. Just do what I say." Voight ordered, ending the call. Jay didn't know, and still doesn't completely know, what went down after he hung up with Voight but he did what his Sargent instructed. He dumped his phone in the river and drove towards his cabin in northern Wisconsin. A cabin, no one but his unit and his brother knew about. He stopped at a 24-hour Walmart, thirty minutes after crossing state lines and bought a new pre-paid phone and, not knowing how long he was going to be in hiding, some groceries and necessities. He texted Hank the new number and the only response he received was "Okay." What the fuck was that supposed to mean, he wondered to himself. The darkness of night was giving way to daybreak as he pulled into the driveway. He was starting to crazy, he thought to himself, as he paced inside the cabin. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to hide out in solitude and he had only been there for an hour. He was worried about Mariana and the baby. After another hour of pacing, Jay warily sat on the couch as the sun was rising over the lake. I just need to close my eyes for a minute he thought...

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY:**

"Thanks, AL. We are ten minutes out. Tell them to stay out of site and wait for us behind the hanger." Voight said, ending the call. He looked over at the younger detective, sitting in his passenger seat, knowing exactly what Jay was thinking about. He knew Jay had never loved Mariana, but also knew Jay felt guilty for leading her on when he was undercover and getting her pregnant. Voight had his doubts that the girl had actually been pregnant. He thought Marian's father and brother had put her up to it, suspecting things weren't on the up and up with her boyfriend, which would have resulted Jay walking into a trap at some point. But he was never able to prove it. Before the Medical Examiner could perform an autopsy, El Gato pulled strings within the Colombian government and had his daughter's body returned to Colombia for a private burial. He was determined to get to the truth once and for all so he could put Jay's mind at ease.

"Jay, we're here. Christine's Dad and Uncle will be landing within the next twenty minutes. Let's gear up and review the plan with the rest of the Unit." Voight said bringing Jay back to reality. They got out of the SUV, where the rest of the team, including Al, waited for them. "So here's the deal. We're not going in with sirens blaring and guns blazing. Remember, Christine's Dad is not involved with any criminal activity. He is strictly a concerned parent and should be treated that way. Any shooting starts, for any reason, then Antonio, I want you to grab Mr. Brennan and get him out of there. Halstead, Al and I will be waiting for the plane as it pulls into the hanger. Al has some history with Paddy, so we're going to use that to our advantage. Upton and Ruzek, I want you covering us from the north end of the hanger while Burgess and Atwater cover us from the south end. Any questions? Okay then let's go." Hank said leading his team to the hanger.

Hank stood in front of the hanger with Al and Jay on each side of him as they watched the Gulfstream GIV jet land and taxi along the runway towards the direction of the hanger. "Anything I need to know?" Jay asked the two older men. "Yeah. Keep your mouth shut and don't talk to Paddy unless he addresses you first." Al replied. The door to the jet opened and eight men walked down the steps of the plane. "Jay, do you have an update on my daughter?" my Dad asked him. Before Jay could answer Voight and Al introduced themselves to my Dad, assuring they were doing everything possible to find me. "Well if it isn't two of Chicago's finest leading the welcome party. Olinsky, it's been a while. I wish it had been a while longer before we ran into each other again. However, I'm just here in town to visit some family so I don't think I'll be continuing our conversation any further. I'm sure there are more important things for the Intelligence Unit to be doing then hanging out around an airline hanger, and I'm anxious to see my family. Oh, and look, our ride has arrived, right on time." Paddy McGuire said as he walked towards the three large SUV's that pulled onto the tarmac. Walking forward, Al stood in front of Paddy and said "Paddy, I need a moment of your time before you leave." The two men walked away from the group with one of his security guards behind him. "We need to talk about your niece. Hank and I don't want this situation to escalate into a war between the Irish Mob and the Colombian Cartel. Let us do our job. Stand down, have your men stand down and we will safely deliver Christine back to you." Al said. "Look Al, you and I go back more than a few years. We've worked both together and against each other, but if I was convinced you could get my niece back then I wouldn't be here. If my brother-in-law thought you could do your job he wouldn't have woken me up at 2:00am, convinced his daughter was about to be murdered at any moment. The last time Michael Brennan called me in the middle of the night it was when my dear sister Maureen was dying. I don't like receiving phone calls in the middle of the night from Michael. I'm sure you can understand why. I'm guessing the third member of the welcoming committee is Halstead. I understand his relationship with my niece has taken a turn from professional to personal in the past week. Once I get Christine back that is something I will take care of. Blood is thicker than water and no family member of mine is getting involved with a cop. It just isn't done. But back to what's important. My reach extends outside of Boston. I have my sources in the Chicago PD. I know for a fact you have no clue where that scumbag Carlo Sosa, otherwise known as Little Ricky, is holding my niece. Which is why I have arranged for a friend of mine to pay a visit to Ramon Gutierrez at his cell in the MCC Federal Prison. I should have the location and possibly a deal for the exchange if needed within an hour. If that doesn't happen I will go to war to get my niece back. She is the most important thing in the world to me so I'm telling you right now Olinsky. Back off. We are not working together on this one."

The Intelligence Unit watched as my Uncle Paddy, my Dad and my Uncle Paddy's "Security Team" piled into the three SUV's and drove out of the airport. "Now what? What good did that do? How are we going to find Christine?" Kim asked, her voice shaking as she looked at the rest of her Unit, her eyes tearing up at the look of anguish on Jay's face. She knew he had been thinking the questions she just asked. "I mean no disrespect, Sarge, but where do we go from here?" she asked Voight. "Roman, cough if you can hear me." Voight said as everyone but Al looked at him in disbelief. Hank tapped his ear piece and said "Sean Roman seems to be enjoying his first undercover assignment. He feels as guilty, maybe even more so than the rest of us so he volunteered to help in any way he can. They only people who know he is posing as Paddy's chauffeur is this Unit, Trudy Platt and Finn O'Doyle. Trudy knows O'Doyle from back in the day and went down to Kelly's Pub after Halstead and I left. Seems that she was able to cash in on debt O'Doyle owes her and he is going to keep his mouth shut about Sean. Finn was only too happy to oblige. Living in Chicago, and at his age, he doesn't want a war breaking out between the Irish Mob and the Colombian Cartel, but with Paddy now here, he doesn't have much of a say and told Trudy he thinks they are on the brink of war. We are also tracking the GPS for all three SUV's. Wherever they go we will know and we will be there. We're all heading down towards Canryville now. Keep your eyes open and be on high alert once we get down to the Southside. Anything that looks out of place we address it. As much as I want to make sure Christine is returned to Halstead and her Father in one piece, I'm not letting a war break out in my city over her. Halstead, you're with me again. Let's go." Voight said walking towards his SUV.

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 **A/N: I need to give a big thank you and shout out to EyesOnTv777 for the great reviews and private messages about my story. I've said it before I'm having a great time writing this story and I'm so happy you are enjoying it. For the rest of you who are reading along please follow the story so you receive an alert when a new chapter is posted. There are days that I post more than one chapter in less than 24 hours so my story doesn't always appear at the top of the Chicago PD page. Hope you are all enjoying it and I'm excited to share the next chapter with you. Christine's kidnappers will soon discover she's not a weak, timid woman and her relationship with Jay is definitely going to hit some bumps due to her family connections in Boston and Chicago!**


	12. Escape

**A/N: Warning due to graphic content in this chapter. It was a rough chapter to write but I think it gives a clear understanding of what Christine went through when she was away from Jay and knew she couldn't rely on anyone to help her escape. It also gives a glimpse into the psychological aftermath she is dealing with. I hope you enjoy.**

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As Hank, Jay and the rest of the Intelligence Unit were trying to find me and trying to keep a leash on my Uncle Paddy, I woke up on a strange bed with my left wrist handcuffed to the bedframe. These two idiots have obviously never kidnapped anyone before. If they had they would have known to handcuff both of my hands and secure my feet together. I slowly opened my eyes, making sure there was no one else in the room who would realize I was awake. Assessing the situation and my surroundings before moving I came to the conclusion I was indeed alone in a bedroom, with the door was closed. There were two windows on the left wall that I was hoping to escape thru. There's no way I was letting that psycho, Little Ricky, touch me again and I definitely wouldn't let him send any part of my body to Jay. I was sure Jay was going out of his mind, somehow convinced this was his fault, which it wasn't. I was the one who left the Ballroom with only Connor as my escort. Oh My God! Connor, I thought to myself as the memories came rushing back. Please God...let him be okay I prayed. I touched the side of my head, where I had been knocked unconscious with the gun, and found a giant lump that was sticky due to the blood that had pooled and dried causing my hair to become matted and nasty. I could also feel swelling on the right side of my face as I looked down at my gown, relieved to see it was still in one piece. That's when I noticed I was no longer wearing my shoes.

First things first, I thought to myself. Oddly enough this isn't the first time I had been kidnapped so I knew, to an extent, what to expect and what I needed to do to get out of here. It had been fourteen years since my last kidnapping by an Italian Mafia family from the North End of Boston, who wanted revenge for something or other that my Uncle Paddy had done. The difference between that one and this kidnapping was no one had threatened to chop me up and kill me before. The last one was strictly a ransom situation. It was kind of comical looking back on it now. It was almost like a mini vacation at a nice hotel. I slept in a king size bed in private bedroom, with a guard posted outside the door, in a very nice house for three days and binge watched the Soprano's while the Consigliere's wife, Rosa, cooked me breakfast and lunch each day. I ate an Italian dinner every night with the family and practiced my flirtation skills on the Consigliere's son, Joseph. On my last day with them, they taught me how to pick a lock and how to escape from handcuffs, if I couldn't pick the lock. Never thought I would have to put those talents to use again, I thought to myself. Thankfully, I still had bobby-pins in my hair which meant I could use one of them to pick the lock on the handcuff and wouldn't have to dislocate my thumb to pull my hand out. I removed a bobby-pin from the back of my hair, and although it took multiple tries, I managed to pick the lock and get free. Quietly slipping off the bed, I made my way over to the windows. "Fuck!" I whispered to myself. I was at least three floors up and there wasn't a fire escape to climb down. Okay, maybe I underestimated my captors and they weren't complete morons. I turned back and looked around the room trying to figure out what I could use to help me escape and as I looked at the dresser, that's when I saw the picture...of Jay, smiling, with his arms wrapped around a beautiful girl with black hair.

What the fuck!? Where the hell am I? I entered the walk-in closet and noticed both women's and men's clothing hanging up. That's when I realized I was in Jay and Mariana's apartment. The apartment he had lived in when he was undercover. The good news was that meant I was still in Chicago. The bad news was if the Chicago PD or the Intelligence Unit had thought to come looking for me here, they would have come and gone by now. Therefore, no one was coming to rescue me and I really was on my own. If Jay had lived here while he was undercover he must have had a "go" bag stashed somewhere. Hopefully it was still here. I mean, I have a "go" bag hidden in my apartment. I don't have any involvement what-so-ever in my Uncle's business but since I had been kidnapped at the age of sixteen he took it upon himself to teach me certain things. Things that would prepare me for situations like this. I quietly tapped the walls of the closet, looking for a compartment in the wall, and other than one small open and empty one, I didn't find anything. I went over to the bed and struggled, trying to lift the heavy queen size mattress off the box spring. Once I shifted it enough, I found what I was looking for. There had been a hole cut into the box spring and that's where Jay's "go" bag remained hidden! I opened the backpack, pouring the contents onto the bed, and found what appeared to be close to $5,000.00 in cash, a loaded gun, a knife, a cell phone and men's clothes. I grabbed the phone and tried turning it on but it was dead. Shit, I thought. I dumped the clothes on the floor and put everything except for the knife back in the bag. I stripped the sheets and blanket off the bed and using the knife cut them in half the long way. After tying the sheets and blankets together I tied one end to the bed and then slowly opened the window. I was going to shimmy down as far as I could and then jump. Looking at my watch I noticed it was almost 5:00am and still there was no noise coming from outside the bedroom door, but I wasn't going to risk opening the door to find out who or what was on the other side of it. I put Jay's backpack on and then lowered the rope, made up of sheets, out the window. Taking a deep breath, I sat on the window sill and grabbing the sheets began the climb down. I knew I wouldn't make it all the way down and I had been right. I had a fifteen foot drop to go. This was going to hurt but it would hurt a lot less than being chopped up. Taking another deep breath I let go of the sheet and was on the ground in a matter of seconds.

I couldn't help but cry out as I landed on the left side of my body. Almost immediately I felt the stitches, on my leg, pop open and blood start gushing out of my wound. I was also pretty sure I may have broken my left wrist and a couple of ribs. I had to stop the bleeding before I did anything else. I took off the backpack and pulled out Jay's knife. I cut two long strips from the bottom of my dress. I took one strip, cut it in half, and stuffed half of it into the open wound to try to stop the bleeding. I then took the long strip, wrapped it around my leg covering the wound, and tightly tied it in a knot around my leg. I put the knife in the bag and took out the gun before putting the backpack on. Crying from the pain, I then slowly stood up and, still not knowing where in Chicago I was, began walking as quickly as I could up the street. Three blocks later I was convinced I was dying. I was in so much pain, and it had started snowing. There was no way the temperature could be above ten degrees with the wind chill probably reducing it to a negative ten. I was freezing due to being barefoot and wearing nothing but a strapless gown. I kept trying to focus on Jay and getting back to him. Looking at my watch it was close to 7:00am when I made it to the river and realized I was only two miles from Chicago Med at that point. I had to make it that far. The hospital meant safety. I just had to keep going. I couldn't let Little Ricky find me, I told myself deliriously, as I tried to move one foot in front of the other. As I made my way along the river flashbacks of the night before started happening. Flashbacks of what happened after Little Ricky had taken me from the hotel...

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 **FLASHBACK:**

Before I was knocked unconscious my last thought was of Jay and not being able to kiss him at midnight. Now, as I woke up, surrounded by complete darkness, thanks to the blindfold over my eyes, my thoughts were focused on survival and escaping. I knew I was in the back of an SUV. I could feel the bumps as we drove and could hear Brianna and Little Ricky talking. My hands and feet were both bound by ropes and there was a blanket covering my entire body. I wasn't sure how long I had been out for but I was determined to put an end to this now before things escalated any further. "Hey!" I yelled. "Shit! She's already awake. I knew you didn't hit her hard enough Carlo. Now we're going to have to listen to her the rest of the way. Why the fuck didn't you gag her as well?" I heard Brianna say. "We're almost there so don't worry about it. I'll take care of here when we get inside and you won't hear another sound from her." he replied.

A few minutes later the car stopped an I heard both doors open and close as Brianna and Little Ricky got out of the SUV. As soon as they opened the back and removed the blanket covering me, I started screaming for help. At least I did until Little Ricky punched me in the mouth. "Shut up, puta, or I'll cut your tongue out." he told me as I tasted blood from where his fist had made contact with the corner of my mouth. I spit the blood out of my mouth in the direction of his voice, hoping I had hit one of them with it before grinning and saying "You hit like a girl. By the way, you have no idea what a mistake you've made. Forget about Jay kicking your ass, my Uncle is going to torture you both, tear you limb from limb and then he will charter a boat and feed you to the sharks off the coast of the Florida Keys." I said laughing. "You're delusional. Probably have a concussion from where I hit you with my gun. Now keep your mouth shut." Little Ricky said again, covering me with the blanket before tossing me over his shoulder and carrying me up multiple flights of stairs.

I heard a door open and I was seated on what felt like a kitchen chair. They didn't take my blindfold off and I'll admit it I was scared. Scared but pissed off. And pissed off enough to continue to taunt and antagonize my two captors in hopes they would rip the blindfold off so I could find a way to fight them. After hitting me two more times, both times to my midsection that caused my ribs to hurt instantly, Little Ricky sent Briana to the 24-hour market at the corner of the street for tequila and beer. After she left, he grabbed me, dragging me into what I was guessing was another room. As he tossed me onto what felt like a bed he told me he was "ready to have a good time now that we are alone." "Get away from me!" I screamed at him. He laughed, a very eerily sounded laugh. As his hands began moving their way under my dress and up my legs, I tried to move away. My feet and hands were still bound together at that point so it was difficult for me to move. He laughed and said the more I fought him the more he was turned on. "I want to see your beautiful ocean blue eyes when I fuck you. You won't remember Halstead after you have a real man inside of you." he said pulling the blindfold off. "You fucking sicko. You are going to regret this." I said, my voice shaking as tears rolled down my face. He was going to rape me. Please God...no. His hands made their way to my black and silver sheer lace panties and he pulled them off. "Nice. Real nice. It's a shame Brianna doesn't wear anything like this. They're hot and look, they're making me hard." He said. As he began to unzip his jeans, I pulled my legs back and as hard as I could, I shot my legs out. He was caught off guard by the minor contact, and as he lunged at me I kicked out again and managed to make contact with his face. My stiletto cut his left cheek. "You bitch!" He roared as he hit me in the face over and over again. I heard Brianna, calling out from the other room, she was back and ready to party but that didn't stop him. After the fourth blow everything went dark as I lost consciousness.

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 **PRESENT DAY:**

"Hey lady! Are you okay?" someone yelled from a car as they slowed down, bringing me back to reality. I held Jay's gun behind my back, with the safety off, just in case. "Call 9-1-1...please." I begged my teeth chattering. "What do you want us to say? Did you have a little too much fun celebrating New Year's Eve?" his passenger asked. Even in the state I was in, I could tell that they had been partying a little too much and I wasn't much safer with them than I had been with Little Ricky. I pulled Jay's gun from behind my back and pointed it in their direction as they started to get out of their car. "Ambulence...Chicago Med...gunshot...kidnapped." I said as I fell to the ground. "Holy shit!" Stay awake...yeah I need you to send an ambulance and the cops..." was all I heard as I started to pass out. I came to as I heard sirens approaching, noticing I was alone with Jay's gun still in my hand. Did I imagine the guys in the car, I wondered as the sirens continued and got louder. "There she is!" I heard a familiar voice yell. That voice belonged to Brianna. "We have to get her out of here before those sirens get here. God Carlo! You're such a fucking idiot. You should have just left her tied up instead of only handcuffing only one of her hands to the bed. El Gato is going to be pissed at you for this one." she said sounding closer. When she and Little Ricky came into view and were only ten feet away I held up the gun, and with shaky hands, but eyes wide open, I fired one...two...three...four...five...six...seven times until the clip was empty. Not knowing if I had actually hit them or not, I slowly stood and saw they were both on the ground bleeding...alive but bleeding. I turned, falling back to the ground, as I saw an ambulance, fire truck and two police cars come barreling down the street.

"Christine!" Kelly Severide yelled, jumping out of the turck before it came to a complete stop as he raced to my side. "Help me Kelly. Don't let them hurt me anymore. They were going to kill me." I said as the tears started flowing. Kelly lifted me into his arms, handed the gun to the cop and announced he was taking me to Med. "Kelly, we have the gurney. Just set her down here." Gabby said. "No!" I screamed. "Please don't let leave me Kelly." I begged, knowing fully well I was having some sort of breakdown. "Kelly, get in one of the cop cars. You can still hold her as you get in the back and they'll bring you to Med. We'll notify them you're on your way and meet you there." Sylvie said, concern apparent in both her voice and in the look she gave me as she covered me with blankets. "Lieutenant Severide! Over here! We'll take you." an officer yelled. As Kelly carried me past Squad Three's truck I saw the looks of disbelief and anger on their faces. Cruz said he would follow us in the truck to Med. Kelly, true to his word, held me in the back of the cop car, as we raced towards Med. "It's going to be okay. You're safe now." he told me not fulling understanding what had happened, his voice filled with worry as I stared at him with a blank look in my eyes. We pulled up to the doors of the E.D., within minutes, where Maggie, April, Nat and Will were waiting. "Oh My God! What happened?" Maggie asked directing us to one of the treatment rooms. "I'm not 100% sure. She's been in and out of consciousness since we got to her ten minutes ago. She wouldn't let go of me so a squad car bought us here. You're going to want to call in reinforcements Maggie, because you're about to have two people with gunshot wounds arriving. Call Connor. You know he won't want to have anyone else operate on her leg." Kelly said as he placed me on the bed in the room Maggie escorted us to.

"Christine..." Will Halstead began, his voice soft. "We're going to need Kelly to give us the room so we can work on you." "No!" I screamed again crying. "They're coming here. Kelly don't leave me please. I know you won't let him get me again. He's going to try because I shot him. I shot both of them. Don't go!" I begged. "Will, don't make him go." I turned, to Will, giving him a look of fear. It became apparent to everyone in the room I was on the verge of full blown hysteria. "Okay. Christine, we need to know what happened, what hurts and get you changed. If you want Kelly to stay that's fine for now, but I am going to give you something to help you relax a little. Is there anyone I can call for you?" Will asked concern written all over his face as Nat and April walked back into the room. I gave him a two word answer, as Nat handed Will his phone, changing the look of concern to one of shock when I said "Your brother." before my world went dark.


	13. Family Issues

**A/N: This chapter is a little longer than previous chapters but it was important to introduce the family dynamic into the story and give a glimpse as to how it is going to affect Christine & Jay's relationship. Hope you enjoy it. Please don't forget to follow my story because as previously mentioned there are times that I have added new chapters in less than 24 hours. So if you're not following and receiving the alert you may not notice the new chapter! **

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"Detective Halstead, I don't know where you are but this is the fifth message I've left you in the past fifteen minutes. As I mentioned before it's urgent and an emergency. I'm just going to come out and say it. Christine Brennan is at Med. She asked Will to call you when she got here. She's being rushed into surgery now. Dr. Rhodes is operating. That's all I can say, so get your ass to Med as soon as possible, Jay." Maggie said as she hung up the phone. She looked up as Dawson and Brett rolled in a female on a stretcher announcing it was a gunshot wound to the upper right arm and the lower abdomen. "Is that one of the people after Christine? You're going to Treatment Three with this one Dr. Halstead." She said noticing there were two police officers on either side of the stretcher. The doors opened again and the next set of paramedics came through followed by two more police officers. "What do we have?" Maggie asked. "Male...gunshot victim...looks like the shoulder, the stomach and the leg." the paramedic answered. "Dr. Choi, you're going to Baghdad." Maggie instructed. She looked around the E.D. and noticed with the number of firefighters, paramedics and police officers currently standing guard there was no way this was going to be a quiet New Year's Day. "Maggie, have you been able to reach Jay Halstead?" Gabby asked as she and Sylvie walked over to where Maggie was standing. "Not yet. I've tried him five times." she responded. "I'm going to call the 21st and see if I can have Sargent Platt track him down." Gabby responded as she walked away. "What's going on? I thought Christine had that work event last night?" Maggie asked Sylvie. "She did but from the little I do know all hell broke loose and she was abducted. She and Jay having been hooking up lately and I know they really care for each other. Please try him again, Maggie." Sylvie said as she walked over to where Kelly and Cruz were standing with the rest of Squad Three. "You were really great with her Kelly. Why don't you guys head back to the house and I'll call you with an update. I've already reached out to the Chief and asked to have someone else cover the rest of my shift so I can stay here." Sylvie said. "I'm not going anywhere knowing those other two are in the same hospital. I checked in with Boden as well. If we get a call they'll reach out on the radio. Look, I'm not a fan of her and Halstead as a couple but has anyone reached him yet?" he finished looking at Sylvie who just said not yet.

"E.D., this is Maggie." she said answering the phone a few minutes later. "Detective Halstead! Finally. Let me get your brother for you. He might be able to give you more information than I can." she said handing the phone to Will. "Jay, Christine was brought in about 30 minutes ago. I didn't realize you had started seeing each other. Look, you're going to want to get here. She fought like hell to survive but she's in rough shape. She's up in surgery now. I'll try to get an update from Connor before you get here. How far away are you?" Will asked his brother, trying to not give away too much information just yet about my condition. "I'm ten maybe fifteen minutes out. Christine's Dad and Uncle are in the car behind me with Upton and Atwater. Where was she found?" Jay asked. "From what I understand she was down by the river when her abductors found her again. She shot them Jay. They're both here. Alive but she hit both of them multiple times. It's a mess down here. Squad Three is here along with Brett and Dawson. She wouldn't let Kelly let go with her or leave her side before she passed out. It's a mess down here." Will said, not sure what his brother's reaction was going to be. He knew that if Jay hooked up with someone involved in a case then I had to be pretty important to Jay because he would never risk his career for a random hook-up. "Will, get the update from Connor. I'll see you in ten." Jay said ending the call and looking over at Hank. "I don't know many details, but it doesn't sound good Sarge. I don't know how she got away but she shot Little Ricky and Brianna." he said the admiration apparent in his voice. "Kid, you know she's strong. She'll pull through. I just hope you're ready to put your own shit aside for the time being and help her through this. It's not going to be an easy road. Especially if she was..." Hank was cut off by Jay. "Don't say it. I'll kill him if he raped her." Jay said angrily and then told his Sargent to drive faster.

Within ten minutes four of the unmarked cars driven by the Intelligence Unit, with lights flashing and sirens blaring sped into the parking lot of Chicago Med. Jay, momentarily forgetting my Dad was in the car behind him, hopped out of Hank's car before it had come into a complete stop and ran into the E.D., where Will was waiting for him. "How is she? Where is she? Can I see her?" Jay asked, a look of fear written across his beautiful face. "Will say something...is she still alive?" Jay begged. "I'm sorry Jay. I'm not permitted to give you any information on Christine. Ms. Goodwin came down to the E.D. a few minutes ago informing me she had received a call from Christine's Dad, on his way here, and since he has Power of Attorney over her Medical Care, he asked that none of the hospital staff discuss his daughter's case with anyone on than him and his brother-in-law. He will allow only Voight and Olinsky to question her when she is out of recovery. No one else from Intelligence is to be given access to her or they will sue the hospital and the Chicago PD. Jay, they're blaming you for this. Just remember, from what I hear, Christine does not share their sentiments. Nat told me that you guys have moved from a professional relationship to a personal one. Jay, just stay level headed and this will work out." Will replied. "What the fuck?" Jay said, turning and looking at my Dad as he walked through the doors to the E.D. with my Uncle Paddy next to him. "Mr. Brennan, please. I need to know she is okay. That she is going to be okay. Please let me see her." Jay said, trying to plead with my Dad. "I think you've done enough Detective Halstead. Dr. Halstead, if you would lead my brother-in-law and I to where my niece is, we would appreciate it. I know her Father, just as I am, is very anxious to see Christine and talk to Dr. Rhodes." my Uncle Paddy said in a tone no one ever dared to argue with.

I woke up a few hours later and found my Dad sitting on one side of my bed and my Uncle Paddy sitting on the other side of the bed in my hospital room in the ICU. "I'm dying, aren't I? That's the only way I could ever get the two of you in a room together. I knew I was in bad shape but I didn't think it was that bad." I said, my throat dry and sore. "Can I have some water please?" I asked. As my Dad got me a glass of water, Uncle Paddy went out to find a nurse to let them know I was awake. "Talk about déjà vu! Weren't we just here?" I said to my Dad. "This isn't anything to joke about Christine. I'll let Connor and Dr. Halstead explain everything to you when they come in the room." he said sternly. I knew I had scared him. "Dad, you called Uncle Paddy? Why would you do that? Do you know what this is going to do to my life, to my career, to my reputation? I love him dearly but there's a reason no one in Chicago knew about him." I said. "He called me because he knew the cops wouldn't be able to find you. Who else has the connections needed? You should be thankful he reached out to me." Paddy said coming over and kissing me on the forehead. "I'm glad you're going to be okay little one. You've had us worried." Before another word could be said, Connor and Will walked into my room. "Connor! You're okay. I was so worried about you. I'm so sorry for what happened to you." I said as tears started to roll down my cheeks. Connor smiled and said "I told you, next time you ripped those stitches you would have to come back to Med and deal with Maggie. You had everyone really worried. But, I assured them they had the best surgeon at Med operating on you. I stitched you back up, repaired a tear to the artery in your leg and that was the only surgery you needed. I will tell you this, Christine. No pressure on the left leg for four weeks. It won't be good if that wound opens up again. I'll let Dr. Halstead explain the rest." I looked at Will and said, "Plese Will. Don't tell me I'm dying. I swore the only way I would be able to get my Uncle and Dad in the same room together was if I'm dying." "You're not dying. You're actually very lucky. It could have been a lot worse than what it was. The swelling to your head and face will heal on its own. You do have a slight concussion from where you were hit on the side of your head. You also have two broken ribs and a severely bruised and sprained left wrist." Will replied. "I didn't break the wrist? Jesus! When I dropped to the ground I was pretty sure I had broken it. Christine, Dr. Rhodes and I discussed care for you and we don't want you to leave the hospital until the concussion has cleared up and your wrist has healed enough for you to use crutches to stay off the leg. So you should plan on being a Chicago Med resident for the next two weeks and then we will be able to send you home. We will most likely be able to move you out of ICU tomorrow and get you settled in a regular room. If you're feeling up to it, Sargent Voight and Detective Olinsky would like to take your statement." Will said. "What's with the formality, Will? That's not like you. And where's Jay? Didn't you call him? He must know I'm here if Hank and Al are waiting to talk to me. Is he okay? Why isn't he here?" I asked. "We'll give you a few minutes with your family and then send Voight in to take your statement." Will said, ignoring my questions.

I waited until Connor and Will left my room and looked at the two men who have loved me more than anyone else in the world, and asked "What the hell did the two of you do?" "I encouraged your Dad, as your next of kin, to exercise his Power of Attorney over your Medical Care and keep Detective Halstead and the rest of Chicago PD other than Voight and Olinsky away from you." my Uncle replied. "Are you crazy? I love you Uncle Paddy but you had no right telling him to do that." I said glaring at my Uncle before turning to my Dad and saying "What the hell were you thinking? You know how I feel about Jay. Why would you ban him from my room? You're lucky I don't ban the two of you from my room. I love you Daddy. You know that. I love you more than anyone else in the world but you're not keeping me from Jay. Of course, now knowing about my nefarious ties, he may not want to see me anymore. I seriously can't believe the two of you." I said as I buzzed the nurses station. The ICU nurse came in and I said "I don't know what paperwork I have to sign but I'm revoking any rights my Father currently has as Power of Attorney over my Medical Care. Have someone draw up paperwork and get it to me now. Also, find me Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Halstead immediately and get them into my room." I was done with this bullshit, I thought to myself. "I love you both immensely and am so thankful you're here, but you crossed a line. I'm thirty years old, you don't get to decide who I can date and who comes in and out of my life. Why do you think I've been living in Chicago for the past three years? I could have been GM of the Beacon Hotel back in Boston, but I turned it down, wanting to get out of Boston. Wanting a little space and wanting to experience life. I'd like it if you would give me a little time to myself. I don't want you here when I talk to Hank and Al. And I definitely don't want you here when Jay comes to see me. Uncle Paddy, I know you only want what's best for you and I love you for that and I know because of your business how you feel about cops, but you need to back off when it comes to Jay. Dad, I can't believe you let Uncle Paddy talk you into this. I get the fact that you were worried but that's not like you. We can talk about it later in private but for now I want some space. Why don't you plan on coming to my apartment, separately this afternoon to see me and we can go from there?" I said. They got up to leave, both looking a little sheepish, and after the apologies and kisses I was finally alone. Well as alone as I could be with two uniforms guarding my hospital door.

Connor and Will walked back into the room twenty minutes later and introduced me to Sharon Goodwin, the Chief of Services at Med. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Brennan. I wish it was under better circumstances though. I must say, I attended last night's Gala at the Beacon with the hospital's Board of Director's and it was wonderful. You and your team did an amazing job. Not only that, but your personal donation got me thinking about things to come in the future and how the Beacon and Chicago Med can partner together on events. Once you're back on your feet I'd like the opportunity to talk to you." she said. "Thank you. I'm sorry we didn't have the chance to meet last night. I'm glad you enjoyed the Gala, give me a week or two and we will set up a time for you to come to the hotel for lunch and we can talk about whatever ideas you may have." I replied. "I understand that you want to take control of your Medical Care and your Father is going to sign away his Power of Attorney. I have the paperwork right here. I passed your Dad on the way to see you and he already signed the document. I just need you to sign here and then we are all set." I signed and then assuring me she would see me soon, she left me alone with Connor and Will. I looked at the two of them and in a no-nonsense tone said "Draw up the paperwork to get me out of here. I don't care if it's against Doctor's wishes. I'll sign whatever I need. Just do it because I'm going home tonight. Don't look at me like that Connor. I know what you're thinking and I'm not really concerned because you live two floors up from me and I know you will check in on me. Plus, I'm sure I'll end up with a babysitter or two and my Uncle Paddy is bound to assign someone to watch my every move when he heads back to Boston. I'm sending him and my Dad back to Boston tomorrow. Now that everything's settled and Connor is getting the paperwork for the three of us to sign, Will can you please now tell me if Jay is here in the hospital somewhere?" Before Will could answer, a voice from my doorway said "I'm right here. Your Dad sent me up on his way out. You seem to be okay, based on the lecture and orders you just dished out to Connor and my brother." he said. "We'll give you a few minutes and then come back with the papers." Will replied.

"Are you going to come over here and give me a kiss or am I that repulsive looking right now?" I asked him, knowing full well my face must be an ugly array of purple and blue bruises. "I'm sorry." Jay said to me. "Jay, don't. Please, come here and sit down. I may be going home today but Connor hasn't given me new crutches yet so I can't get out of bed and chase you." I said trying to lighten the mood. Not moving from his spot in the doorway, Jay said "We have quite a bit to talk about. Apparently, you left a few things out about your family over the past week. You should have told me, Christine. On top of being a victim in one of our cases your Uncle is one of the biggest crime bosses on the East Coast. And he's walking around Chicago. I could get fired for this. Thankfully, Voight believes in keeping a lot of shit in house. I don't know if I can do this. Don't get me wrong you have somehow made me fall in love with you in a short time, but I don't know if it can go any further. I need to ask...is your car or your apartment paid for by Paddy McGuire?" "Are you serious? No, I work hard and make damn good money. Plus, my Dad has been very generous in my upbringing and has always given me generous gifts from the hardworking, honest money he earned. And I would think Detective Halstead you meant to say that my Uncle is ALLEGEDLY one of the biggest crime bosses on the East Coast. That has never been proven and he has never been arrested. And as far as your feelings for me I think you should know they are returned in full. I fell in love with you Jay Halstead from the moment you had the nerve to yell at me in my hospital room. Talk about repetition. Here we are nine days later and you're doing the same thing. Tho, this time I'm alert enough to yell back. You know what Jay, maybe you're right. Maybe we don't belong together. After all I don't want to be an inconvenience as you work your way up through the Chicago Police Department. You should go. Please send your brother and Connor back in. I can see them standing at the Nurse's station waiting for us to be done yelling at each other. Oh, and if Kelly Severide is in the hospital somewhere please tell him to come see me. I need to thank you for what he did earlier." I said, dismissing him.

Jay, not saying another word, turned around and walked out of my room and never saw the tears silently stream down my face. Will walked in a few minutes later and said "Christine I have something I need to ask you before we release you. It's a delicate situation so if you think you're going to be uncomfortable then I can have Nat or one of the nurses come in and talk to you." I looked at him and said "Honestly Will, the answer is going to be the same no matter who asks me. I don't know if I was raped. Little Ricky was about to and I fought him off. He beat me unconscious and I have no idea what happened after that. I'm sure you have to know this as well but the last time I had sex, that I know of, was with your brother on December 30th. If an exam needs to be done I would like to have Nat do it now so I can go home. And Will, I don't want Jay to know about this. Even if he and I are truly done, I don't want him thinking this is his fault. He's already having enough trouble dealing with everything." Will turned to go get Nat and we were both stunned to see Jay, once again, standing silently in the doorway. "Will, give us a minute. I need another word with Christine." Jay told his brother. "I'll go find Nat and we'll be back in twenty minutes." Will said closing the door behind him. "I came back to say I am an idiot. I got in the elevator and before I made it back downstairs I knew I couldn't push you away. Now I'm thinking pushing you away is the safest option for you. It might be the only way to keep you safe. I don't know what to do. This is my fault and I don't know how to fix it. Jesus, you're back in ICU because I didn't walk away from you." Jay said. "Jay, come here." I said softly. He walked over and sat on the edge of my bed. I took his hand and said "Remember that night at my apartment? The night we agreed to take our time in getting to know each other? I'm still that girl and you're still that guy. None of this is your fault. Do you really think that if you hadn't come back up here I would have just left you alone? You're crazy if you think that. Jay, I'm in love with you. If you want to keep me safe, then until this Cartel thing is done with, you can spend each night in my bed. But, Jay, if that's too much for you to handle I completely understand. Just don't blame yourself." Before he could answer, there was a knock on the door. Natalie was there to perform the exam. "I'll wait outside with Will." Jay said.

Nat looked at me and asked how I was doing. "Honestly Nat, I'm barely holding it together but I need to get this shit with my Dad and Uncle fixed and get them back to Boston. Then I need to figure out how to convince Jay none of this is his fault. Plus, I've started to remember how freaked out I was when Kelly brought me into the hospital. And I have to deal with the fact that I shot two people and I'm starting to wonder if the Cartel is going to come after me again because of that. If this exam shows tearing that is consistent with a rape, I may lose my shit. I won't be able to handle that and I can tell you Nat I know Jay won't be able to handle it either. Let's just get it over with." I said. A few minutes later the exam was finished and Nat had good news. "It doesn't appear there is any tearing. I'm making a note in your chart that you were not sexually assaulted." she said with a smile on her face. "Christine, the Halstead men are stubborn and sometimes pigheaded, but I know Jay is in love with you and I saw how scared he was when he got to the E.D. earlier. Give him a little time but he will come around. There's no way he will be able to walk away from you. You're be good for him and the two of you will be good for each other. My advice, once you heal, is to get away for a couple of days. Just the two of you. Go somewhere to relax. It will do you both a lot of good. Now let's get you dressed and get you out of here." After helping me put on a pair of hospital scrubs and finding me a pair of slippers, Nat helped me into a wheelchair because I couldn't yet use crutches because of my wrist. Connor got called back into surgery so he had already signed my release form. Will signed the form and then I did as well. Jay put my items in a plastic hospital bag and we headed downstairs so I could go home. "You know I now can start a collection of hospital scrubs and bags from the past week and a half. I would prefer to not have to add to the collection anymore tho." I said as we stood in the elevator with Will and Nat. "Jesus, you are something else." Will said. "Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment." I replied smiling at him. It wasn't the best smile since most of my face was swollen but I did see his eyes widen ever so slightly and I knew I still had it. "Use that on the other Halstead brother, if you don't mind." Nat said teasing me. As the elevator doors opened, Will told me Connor would check on me tonight when he got home from the hospital and then he, Will, would be by the next morning to check on me. For the next couple of weeks he and Connor will take turns checking on me to make sure there are no setbacks.

When Jay wheeled me out of the elevator I was surprised to see how many people I knew were still down in the waiting room. "Jay, I don't want to see them. I'm not ready yet. I just want to go home. Is there another way out of here?" I asked. "Jay, why don't you go get my car and then drive around the other side of the hospital. I'll take Christine and we will meet you there. Once you're gone I'll let everyone know you left." Will suggested. "Yeah, just let me check in with Voight first. He's going to want the Unit with us." Jay replied. "I'll see you in a few minutes." he said placing a light kiss on my lips. As Will, Nat and I stood outside the main entrance to the hospital waiting for Jay a black SUV with dark tinted windows stopped in front of us. The front passenger window rolled down and Uncle Paddy said "Need a ride?" "Thanks Uncle Paddy but we're waiting for Jay. He went to get Will's car and he is going to take me home and stay with me." I said, annoyance evident in my tone and hopefully visible on my face through the bruises and swelling. "No need, little one, Detective Halstead is right here." he said rolling down the window so I could see an unhappy looking Jay sitting in the seat behind him. Fuck, I thought to myself. This isn't going to be good...


	14. Where Do We Go From Here?

We sat silently in the car on the twenty minute ride to my apartment. I could feel the annoyance radiating from Jay, also noticing the all-telling tick in his cheek that was a clear sign of his mood, so I didn't attempt to talk to him. I was exhausted, in pain and angry so we when pulled up to my apartment, knowing my Uncle would never refuse anything I asked of him, I said "Uncle Paddy, thank you for the ride. I love you but I'm tired and still need to give a statement to the police so I'm not inviting you in. I'm going to suggest that you come see me tomorrow morning at 10:00am, before heading to the airport. Tell Finn, Shamus and Liam that I said hello. I'm sure you're on your way to visit with them now. Thank you again Uncle Paddy. I love you." I then turned to Jay, who was looking at me in wonder and amazement, and I asked him to get the wheelchair out of the back of the SUV and then help me out of the vehicle. As Jay did, my Uncle Paddy laughed and said, "He doesn't know what to think of our relationship. He's surprised you have me wrapped around your finger." After Jay lifted me out of the SUV and carefully set me in the wheelchair, he was pushing me towards the entrance of my building as Uncle Paddy yelled "Feel better little one. I'll see you tomorrow. Watch over her Detective."

"Well that was interesting." Jay said, helping me get settled on my couch. Before he could say another word there was a knock on my door. Grabbing his gun, he cautiously walked down the hall towards my front door. "Sarge. Come on in." he said. I heard multiple voices, two of which I didn't recognize, as the group followed Jay into my living room. The entire intelligence unit followed Hank into the living room and before I knew it the six burgundy button tufted wingback chairs from my dining room table were moved into my living room. Within minutes everyone was seated on either a dining room chair, one of my living rooms chairs, or down the other end of my large slate gray sectional. Jay went into the kitchen and got me a bottle of water out of the fridge and grabbed the box of tissues from the half-bath off the kitchen. I looked at him in confusion, not fully understanding what was going on. Jay sat down next to me, introducing me to Detectives Keith O'Brien and Kenny Rixton, both with the Gang Unit. Jay said Rixton had filled in for Antonio for a short time when Antonio was working with the State Attorney's Office. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Brennan. I'm sorry for what you've been through. Detective O'Brien and I are going to be teaming up with Intelligence to hopefully assist in putting the Cartel case to bed for good." Rixton said to me. Before I could respond, Hank got up from the chair he had been sitting in and crouched down in front of me. "Christine, we need to take your statement if you're ready to give it. Before we start, I want to say what you did took a lot of brains and courage. I'm proud of you and very thankful you're safe." he said pausing as Jay handed me the box of tissues. Now I understood, I thought to myself as I felt tears running down my face. "I thought it might be easier to give your statement once and not have to repeat anything. Do you feel up to doing this now?" Hank asked. I knew he was giving me this opportunity to do it in front of everyone so I didn't have to tell Jay in private, but I wasn't entirely happy about having to do this at all. "It doesn't look like I have much of a choice, do I? I mean you're all here." I said with annoyance in my tone. Before another word could be said there was a knock on the door. Everyone sprang into action with Jay positioning himself in front of me. Hank and Antonio went to answer the door, finding my Dad on the other side of it.

As Hank explained they were about to take my statement, my Dad asked whether he should stay or go. I insisted he stay and then I gave a very detailed statement about the events that took place from when Connor was knocked unconscious until Kelly brought me to Med. I noticed the tears in my Dad's eyes, the anger on Jay's face and the look of disgust on the other's faces as I described the beating and attempted rape. No one said a word until I mentioned the picture of Jay and Mariana. "That's where they took you? To the apartment I lived in when I was undercover?" Jay asked in disbelief. "Yes. But you know what saved me? You did, Jay...well actually your "go" bag saved me. I found it hidden in the box spring. I don't know where the bag is now. I haven't seen it since Kelly brought me to Med. But for future reference, you really need to remember to keep a phone charger in your bag." I said, trying to lighten the mood a little before continuing. When I finished no one said a word for a few minutes as they tried to process what I had been through. "Sarge, I need a minute with Christine. Would you mind excusing us?" Jay said, without waiting for an answer picked me up and carried me into my bedroom, kicking the bedroom door shut behind us. He gently sat me on my bad and sat down next to me. He took my hands in his and said "Do you remember that day we were in your office and I told you that you are amazing? Well I was wrong. Amazing doesn't begin to cover it. You blow me away. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you. I am so sorry for what you went thru and for not making sure you were protected, but my God Christine, you are the most spectacular woman I have ever met." I looked at him with tears in my eyes, overwhelmed by everything he had told me and by the look in his eyes. It was want and need mixed with anger that had his beautiful green eyes smoldering as he looked at me. "Jay..." I whispered. "I do believe I owe you a New Year's kiss." he said as he gingerly placed his hands on either side of my head and kissed me. The kiss hurt like hell, due to Little Ricky using my face as a punching bag, but I wasn't about to tell him that. Instead, I looked at him, smiled and said "It's about time, Halstead."

When we returned to the living room everyone was still there. "Now what happens? When will I be able to go back to living a normal life?" I asked. Hank told me nothing would change for the time being because there were higher ups in the cartel that were still after Jay and I, so I was back on lockdown. After almost everyone left and there was only Jay, my Dad, Hank and Al remaining Hank addressed one of the elephants in the room, my Uncle Paddy. They knew Paddy was coming to see me the next day and I had basically ordered him to return to Boston after our visit was over. Hank and Al wanted to use this opportunity to address anything Paddy may have discovered about the Cartel. I said that was fine but I didn't want anything to do with it. I didn't even want to be there for that part of the conversation. I would go up to Connor's when they talked. "I know you all have your doubts and I don't blame you. I'm not going into my family drama and history now, but I want you to know that I don't have anything to do with my Uncle Paddy's business. For years my Dad has made sure I have been kept at an arm's length away and for the most part Paddy has respected his wishes. Especially after I was kidnapped when I was in high school. Neither one of my parents spoke to Paddy for over a year after that. I don't think you realize what it took for my Dad to call Paddy the other night. So, I'm going to tell you right now, I don't want my Father involved in this either." I said to Hank, Al and Jay. Jay opened his mouth probably to ask about the previous kidnapping but before he could say a word I turned to my Dad and told him I understood why he called Paddy after Jay had contacted him but it was time for him to go home to Boston. I assured him I was safe, healing and planning on returning to work in a few days so there was no need for him to stay. Truth be told I would have loved for my Dad to stay but I wanted him as far away as possible from whatever shitstorm my Uncle had stirred up.

I pulled out my laptop and booked my Dad on a 4:00pm flight out of O'Hare. Jay volunteered to drive my Dad to the airport. That made me feel good for two reasons. The first reason was Jay obviously wasn't holding any grudges against my Dad for what happened at the hospital and the second was Jay would be able to escort my Dad to the gate with his Chicago PD shield and credentials. I looked at Jay, thanked him but reminded him his truck wasn't at my apartment. He smiled at me and said "No big deal. I'll just take your SUV." "Jay, no one drives my car other than me. I'm sure Ruzek told you about our conversation. Can't you get someone to bring your truck over here?" I asked. I don't know how he did it but he managed to convince me, with my Dad egging him on, to let him drive my car. Well someone should drive it I guess since I wouldn't be for the next two weeks. Al then informed my Dad the two Detectives who had been watching him would be waiting for him at the gate at Boston's Logan Airport. They then addressed my security situation for the next week or so. I would have one uniformed officer at my door 24 hours a day, with Roman taking the overnight shift. Each morning at 7:00am Ruzek would show up for the daytime shift. He would then be replaced by Burgess at 1:00pm who would cover until 7:00pm when Antonio or Atwater showed up and would remain until Roman showed up at midnight. "What about Jay?" I asked Hank. "That's up to the two of you to figure out. If Halstead wants to be here each night that's between the two of you on a personal level. You'll have Roman outside your door and I can assure you he won't let anyone get past him. He's really upset about what happened on New Year's Eve." Hank replied. They had ignored my comment about going back to work in a few days and I think they were assuming it would be less of an issue to watch over me if I wasn't leaving my apartment. Boy were they wrong...I was going to be back to work in three days. I needed to be if I wanted to keep my job. Adding to my stress was the concern that what happened on New Year's Eve would be the perfect opportunity for the Board of Director's to get rid of me. There was so much to figure out about where we went from here and how I was going to get my life back to normal.

Jay and my Dad left a short time later and Kim returned to my apartment so Hank and Al could head down to the District. Brianna and Little Ricky had been released from the hospital and they needed to interrogate them. Jay was going to the District after my Dad's flight took off and told me he would return, with dinner, by 7:00pm. It was nice to hang out with Kim and get a little girl time. She brought sandwiches and chili from Bockwinkel's, which is a wonderful gourmet Deli & Market, about fifteen minutes from my apartment. We had a really good lunch and then I decided to take a nap. I was exhausted from the stress of everything that had taken place and my pain medication tended to make me sleepy. When I woke up, it was dark out. Looking at my watch I saw that it was almost 7:00pm. I could hear voices coming from the kitchen so I quietly sat up trying to hear what was being said. "Jay, think about what you're saying. Let's get something straight right now, she isn't Erin and she definitely isn't Mariana. The two of you didn't have a chance to get to know each other well enough for her to tell you about her family. Most people don't announce on a first date that they have a notorious crime boss in their family. She is good for you. Even with all the shit that has been going on, we've all seen flashes of the old Jay. The Jay who used to be happy. We've missed that Jay. Just don't do anything stupid or rash without thinking it through first." Kim said. "You're right. I know deep down that you're right, but seriously Kim you should see the control she has over her Uncle. It's like she's the one who is calling the shots and he is just the face of the organization. Does that make any sense?" Jay replied. Kim laughed, telling him that he was obviously sleep deprived and needed some rest. Kim said she was leaving since Jay was already there. I then heard him say that it was decided that afternoon if he was at my apartment then they didn't need to have another security detail there until Roman came on at midnight. "Bye Kim. Sorry I fell asleep on you all afternoon. Lunch is on me tomorrow." I called out from my spot on the couch.

After Kim left and Jay locked the door he walked back into the living room. "How do you feel? Kim said you slept for a few hours." he said warily, obviously concerned about what I may or may not have overheard. I looked at him as he sat down in the chair across from where I was on the couch and said, "Jay, we need to talk. I am sorry I didn't tell you about my Uncle, but what Kim said was right. Friday night was basically our first date and that's not something you spring on someone during a first date. I would have told you eventually, as we got to know each other better, but it's not something I advertise. It's actually one of the reasons I moved to Chicago. I needed to get out of Boston and away from my Uncle. As much as I love him and I know he loves me, I'm not the person who is going to take over the family business when he retires. That's not a business I'm interested in being involved in. I know you've made a decision as to what you want to do and where you want to go from here, so the ball's in your court Jay. Where do we go from here?"

* * *

 **A/N - Stay tuned for the next chapter. A lot changes after Jay answers Christine's question. She is going to do something completely out of character and she actually gets the support and help from the one person she didn't expect to help her.**


	15. Myrtle Beach

"You know not only is he going to want to kick my ass when he finds out I helped you, but he's going to be even more upset when he finds out Kelly Severide is there with you." the voice on the other end of the phone scolded me, without so much as a greeting, when I answered the phone, pausing before continuing... "It's been three weeks, Christine! Don't you think it's time to come back to Chicago? He's been going out of his mind since you disappeared and it's starting to take a toll on him. You mentioned before that you didn't want to see him go down that rabbit hole, well guess what kid, he is on his way down the hole. He is convinced either the Cartel or your Uncle took you. I know I told you I would cover for you but I thought it would be just a couple of days. I didn't know you were going to hide out for this long. Jesus, you now own that hotel for Christ sakes. Get your ass in gear. I'm giving you one more week to enjoy your vacation and then I'll come down to South Carolina to drag you back here myself." "Are you done, Hank? Jay said he couldn't be with me anymore because of my family's connections so he shouldn't be concerned who I'm with or where I am. And yes, I know I now own the Beacon. I have a very competent Assistant General Manager who is covering for me while I recover from my injuries and furnish the house my Dad bought me. Not only that but I'm looking at hotels down here. I'm thinking about expanding. I'm going to be closing the Beacon in mid-February to make some minor changes, and then we'll be opening on March 1st under a new name. Would be great to have a hotel here that I could do the same with and open on Memorial Day weekend, just in time for tourist season. Look, Hank, if it will make things easier tell Jay that I contacted you to see how the case was progressing. Tell him that I'm safe and healing. He doesn't need to know anything more than that. I'll call you next week from a new number and then I'll be back in Chicago by February 5th. That will give me a full month down here. Hank, seriously, thank you for everything. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it." I said sweetly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. And don't even try using that smile on me when I pick you up at O'Hare on the 5th. I'm booking your flight today and I'll text you the flight info. I expect your ass to be on that plane. You can tell me all about your plans over dinner that night. Be careful kid. I still have one or two people keeping an eye on you, as I know your Uncle does as well, but the Cartel has a long reach." Hank replied, saying good-bye and ending the call before I could say another word.

"Well, that didn't sound like it was too bad. You somehow manage to persuade everyone to do what you want or need them to do. Don't get me wrong, you're one of the nicest and most generous people I have ever met in my life but man you have this magic in you that makes all of us want to do things your way." Kelly said. I smiled at him as we sat around the firepit on the patio at my beach house, overlooking the inground pool and beyond it the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. "Kelly, I appreciate you coming down for a few days. I would have been fine by myself tho. You didn't need to take time off from work. You had already done so much for me on New Year's Day. You went above and beyond that day, staying with me as I lost my shit and had a breakdown. I'm going to get another glass of wine. Do you want another beer? Oh, and we should probably think about dinner since it's getting so late." I said. Kelly said he would get it as he got up from the Adirondack chair and walked up the steps to the deck and heading into the kitchen. I couldn't believe I had been in Myrtle Beach for three weeks. It was exactly what I needed, peace and solitude, after what had happened with the Cartel and Jay. It had given me the opportunity to furnish and decorate my beautiful beach house. I had gotten to work on the Master Bedroom as soon as I arrived in Myrtle Beach. The master has gorgeous mahogany hardwood floors with mahogany trim outlining the rafters of the cathedral arched ceiling and around the doorframe of the french doors that opened up onto a private deck. There was a fabric and crystal chandelier hanging from the highest point of the arch. I had the walls painted a light blue and selected a king size platform bed to be set up across from the fireplace. There was a small sitting area in between the bed and the fireplace and a large flatscreen tv had been installed above the fireplace mantle. The room was decorated in soft hues of ivory and blues. The room had truly become a sanctuary. The master bath was just as wonderful as my bedroom, with mahogany flooring and white walls. The white marble glass stand up shower had a built in marble bench and seven showerheads. The oval shaped white bathtub could easily fit two and above it hung a crystal chandelier. The dual sinks were set on a marble counter top attached to a mahogany vanity with drawers and cabinets of all different sizes and shapes. Off the bathroom was the walk-in closet which was bigger than my closet in Chicago. It took me a week to get the master suite just the way I wanted and then I went to work on the rest of the house. It was perfect and I knew my Mother would have loved it just as much as I did. When things fully calmed back down I was planning on bringing my Dad down in late April. I couldn't wait for him to see the house in person.

As I sat there lost in my thoughts about the house, my family and my career Kelly walked back out and said "I have a surprise for you. Company." I turned around to see Gabby and Matt walking down the steps behind Kelly. "What are you doing here?" I asked, delighted to see them. There were very few people in Chicago who knew where I was and I knew that I could trust these three standing in front of me. "Kelly wants to go golfing tomorrow so he called Casey and asked if we could take a couple of days off. I guess he is afraid you're going to spend more money furnishing and decorating this place. Or he's afraid if he leaves you alone you'll officially become a recluse." Gabby said. "Nice beach shack by the way." Matt said giving me a hug and pulling back, looking in my eyes said. "You look good. You looked rested and healthy." "I am. This time away is what I needed. But how did you get in past security? Security is still out there, right?" I asked panicking slightly. They automatically put me at ease, letting me know Kelly had given their names to the guard at the gate. A gate I was going to rip down as soon as this Cartel shit was over with for good. "We were going to order out for dinner, but if you want we can go out instead. Not sure how tired you are from the drive. But before we decide on that let me give you a tour and show you to your guest suite." I said leading them back into the house. We decided to order out for dinner and as Casey and Kelly headed to Pier14 to pick up our order Gabby and I sat down by the firepit enjoying a glass of Cakebread Cabernet. "How are you doing? And what's Kelly doing here? What about Jay?" Gabby asked with concern. "We were all so worried when you just disappeared. Jay's been a wreck. I'm not sure what happened but he's gotten pretty torn up in Molly's a couple of times and I heard he went to Boston two days after you disappeared but your Dad and Uncle both refused to see him. That drove him crazy from what Kim told me." "Let's not talk about it tonight. We'll go to lunch tomorrow at the Landshark while the guys are golfing and I'll fill you in. I just want to enjoy tonight." I replied. And that's exactly what we did. We enjoyed the night. We ate out by the firepit and then continued to drink late into the night. I laughed more that night than I had in the past month. I said goodnight around 2:00am and headed up to my room. As I had done each night since my room had been finished, I opened up the doors and even in the cold I sat out on the private deck. Looking up at the moon I thought about that last conversation with Jay...

* * *

 **FLASHBACK:**

"Christine, it's not that I don't believe what you're telling me to be true but I honestly don't think at this point I can get into a relationship with you. It's not just because of your Uncle but also because of the danger I've placed you in. You were right that night when you said that relationships that begin because of a traumatic experience don't tend to last. And you don't deserve to be in that type of relationship. You deserve to be in a relationship with someone who isn't going to put your life in danger. With someone who doesn't have the baggage I do." Jay said to me. He paused about to continue, but I cut him off before he could. "So, it's the old it's not you it's me line. Really Jay? I would have thought better of you. You didn't have a problem on New Year's Eve with our relationship. From what I hear you didn't have a problem until you found out who my Uncle is. Even with everything I have said and have proven it's just not enough for you. So much for loving me. Apparently, you throw the word love around way too easily Detective Halstead. First with Mariana and then with me. I think it would be best if you call Dawson or Atwater and ask them to come take your place until Roman arrives. I'm going to call Hank and ask him to remove you from my security detail until this is over with. That way me and my family won't inconvenience you anymore." "Christine..." he started. "I'm going to ask you to wait outside Jay. I would have normally gotten up and walked into my bedroom but that's obviously not an option at this point. Just go." I said to him and for the first time letting him see tears stream down my face.

Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door, followed by Antonio's voice asking if he could come in. I thanked him for coming and apologized for the last minute change in his schedule. I had gotten off the couch and used the wheelchair to make my way into the kitchen and was making myself a plate of food from the Italian take-out Jay had left at my apartment. "Smells good in here." Antonio said walking into the kitchen. "Need any help?" he asked. "Nope. I got it under control. Help yourself tho. We're eating in the living room tonight." I said. As we ate, I put on the Bruins – Blackhawks game. We sat in silence for a while, eating and watching the game when all the sudden he said "Do you want to talk about it?" causing me to burst out laughing which turned into tears. I was so tired of crying. I've cried more in the past ten days than I had in probably the past ten years. I thanked him but declined his offer letting him know that I was expecting Hank to stop by around 9:00pm. Hank arrived and told Antonio he could take off. He told him he would stay until Roman arrived. "If I knew you were going to stay for a bit I would have saved you some food." I said. "I already ate, but thanks. What's on your mind kid?" he asked. I'm not sure how I did it but I convinced him if Uncle Paddy gave him whatever information he had on the Cartel then Hank needed to help me disappear for a few days. I needed to rest and get away from everything and everyone. "Including Halstead?" Hank asked. I replied, "Especially Jay. I don't want to talk about it Hank. We all knew it wasn't a good idea from the start but apparently my family shit is too much for him to handle. Can't really blame him. So, if I get Paddy here in the next hour, can you help me get out of here tonight? I'd like Paddy to drop me off in Myrtle Beach on his way to Boston and I want to go tonight." After going back and forth for an hour I convinced Hank to help me. I promised I would let him know where I was going and would check in with him every few days, from a burner phone because I was leaving my phone in Chicago. I had already called Uncle Paddy after asking Jay to leave my apartment so he knew what was going on. After getting Hank to agree and he reached out to Al to have him come to my apartment, I texted Paddy.

Forty-five minutes later my Uncle along with my "cousins" Finn O'Doyle and his two sons, Shamus and Liam, along with three of Paddy's security team, who were basically his lieutenants, sat in my living room with Hank and Al. This is the most involved I had been in Paddy's business since I was sixteen and I didn't enjoy it and didn't enjoy having them in my apartment. I was in my bedroom with the door shut packing for my trip. I had also grabbed my "go" bag out of its hiding spot in my closet and removed the cash, three untraceable cellphones (with chargers) and a gun (which was registered). I don't like guns so up until I shot Ramon I hadn't held a gun since I was sixteen years old. I ignored Connor's warning about my leg because the wheelchair was preventing me from doing what I needed to do. At midnight, when Roman arrived at his post outside my apartment, Hank sent him home. A couple of hours later Hank and Al had gotten the information they needed and I was leaving on Paddy's plane that night. Hank drove me to the airport with Al following behind us. "I understand why you need to leave, but you know Halstead isn't done with you, right? He isn't going to be able to walk away from you. You have a connection that is stronger than any traumatic experience. I've seen it in the way the two of you look at each other. How he tries to protect you without realizing it. You're good for him. Just give him a little time. But if you need to go you should know you're not completely by yourself. There's someone from Chicago PD watching over you and God help me I gave the okay for Shamus and Liam to watch over you as well. It will be a miracle if you don't end up killing the two of them." Hank said to me. "Thanks for everything Hank." I said smiling at him as I grabbed my bag and walked up the steps of the private jet my Uncle Paddy had chartered.

At 6:00am I looked out the window of the jet watching the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean as we landed in Myrtle Beach. Shamus and Liam grabbed my bags and put them in the SUV that was waiting for us on the tarmac. I turned to my Uncle Paddy and said "Thank you. I know it isn't easy for you to trust or work with the police, but I appreciate you giving whatever information was necessary to Hank and Al. I needed to get out of Chicago and figure out what I'm going to do next. I love you, Uncle Paddy. I hope you know that." "Little one, before I let you go there's something you need to know. The Board of Directors is going to vote today on removing you from your position at the hotel. I wasn't going to let a bunch of idiots destroy your future, especially for something that wasn't your fault, so I bought the Beacon Chicago and signed the deed and title over to you. Congratulations, Christine, you now own a hotel. There will be lawyers getting in touch with you over the next few days to work out the particulars but if you have any questions you know how to reach me. This is the phone they will call you on. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble for you in Chicago and I'm sorry Halstead ended up not being okay with your family ties. Let me know if you need anything else. I'll check in on you in a few days but remember any sign of trouble or worry you tell Shamus and Liam. They're not the brightest bulb on the tree but they'll take care of you." he said, kissing me on the forehead and then walking back up the steps of the plane, leaving me stunned holding a new phone in my hand.

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY:**

"Holy shit! Are you kidding me? Jesus, Christine what's with your life? You get taken hostage by a Cartel leader, who shoots you and then you shoot in return. Then days later you are kidnapped, fight off your attacker and escape, get dumped by your boyfriend, lose your job, get a better job...hello hotel owner...and come hide out in Myrtle Beach for three weeks. I sense a Lifetime movie in the making." Gabby said teasing me as we enjoyed lunch and drinks at the Landshark Bar and Grill. "What's going on with you and Kelly? I know he has a thing for you. He has since you first walked into Molly's six months ago." Gabby continued on. "We're just friends. Nothing more. He's actually been really good to me. I got drunk one night last week, by myself, sitting on the patio and I didn't know who else to call. Plus, I never had the chance to thank him for what he did on New Year's Day. So, there I am, two bottles of wine in, and I pick up the phone and call Kelly. It went to voicemail and I left a message. Twenty minutes later he called me back. We were on the phone for an hour before I told him where I was. He swore he wouldn't tell anyone. He kept calling and texting just to see how I was doing. Before I knew it he told me he was coming down to keep me company and I was giving him my address. Seriously Gabby, that's all there is to it. Plus let's face it, Stella would kick my ass if I ever went there." The next three days flew by as Gabby and I spent most mornings exploring Myrtle Beach, while Matt and Kelly golfed. We would meet up in the afternoons down by the pier and pick a different spot to have lunch before heading back to my house where we spent most nights, eating and drinking, around the fire pit. The last night they were in town I decided to treat my friends to a wonderful meal at The Captain's House. I knew they were all heading back to Chicago the next morning and I wanted to thank them for coming all this way and for caring so much about me. I don't know what it was but something struck me at dinner and I knew it was time to head home. It was time to get back to work and back to living my life. "Hey, Kelly? Do you have room in your car for a passenger tomorrow? I think it's time for me to head home."

Knowing we had a fourteen hour drive back to Chicago the next day the four of us decided to break it up into two days. We would leave at 7:00am and make the nine hour drive to Nashville. I found an AirBnB in Nashville and booked it for one night. We had a great time hanging out in the honkey-tonks on Lower Broadway listening to bands and drinking a little too much beer. I felt just as free in Nashville, with Kelly, Matt and Gabby as I did in Myrtle Beach. I felt like me again...the me I had been before December 23rd. The next day we left at 10:00am and made really good time to Chicago, even stopping for lunch along the way. Kelly pulled up to my apartment building at 6:00pm and I thanked him again. After telling him I would stop by the station the next day I headed inside. I grabbed my mail on the way up to my apartment from the lobby concierge, who informed me the cleaning crew had come in and taken down my Christmas decorations and disposed of the Christmas tree while I was gone. I walked into my apartment and found a note from Kim, Sylvie and Stella which read...

Christine-

Gabby called us, and after making us promise, she let us know where you were and that you were okay. She texted earlier today letting us know you were on your way home. After 3 ½ weeks away we didn't think there was much to eat at your place so we stocked the fridge with some of your favorites. By the way, girl's night is this Friday night at your place and plan on spending Super Bowl Sunday down at Molly's watching your Patriot's get their asses handed to them by the Eagles. We've missed you!

xoxo-

Sylvie, Stella and Kim

Seriously, I have the best girlfriends ever, other than the comment about the Patriots. I opened my fridge to find takeout from Mia Francesca's and a bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay chilling in the fridge. I took out the food and emptied the container of pasta with eggplant onto a plate and threw it in the microwave. I opened the bottle of wine and poured a glass as I turned my phone on. Oh shit I thought to myself. I had 107 text messages from Jay, 92 missed calls and 23 voicemails. I wasn't ready to look at the text or listen to the voicemail just yet. I instead texted the girls and thanked them saying Friday night at 7:30pm for girl's night at my place for Chinese Food and it better not be a set-up this time. I then texted my Dad telling him to pick a weekend in late April to plan a trip to Myrtle Beach. I told him the house was wonderful, but as always, it was good to be home. After promising to call him in a couple of days, I then called Laura, my Assistant General Manager scheduling a meeting for 11:00am tomorrow morning in my office. I told her to clear off her calendar because we had a lot to do. After eating dinner and grabbing a bottle of Stag's Leap Cabernet, I walked out of my apartment and rode the elevator two floors up and knocked on Connor's door. "Hi. Can I come in?" I asked. Connor didn't say a word, but just opened the door leaving me enough room to walk under his arm and into his apartment. After consuming the bottle of wine and begging, pleading and even crying a little Connor eventually cracked and said he forgave me for just leaving in the middle of the night. He then checked my wound and was pleased to see that it had healed nicely. Then he told me I was going to have to see Will over the next few days so I could get the all clear from him in regards to my wrist, ribs and my head. I promised him I would and extended an invite to Molly's on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl. Since he wasn't working he agreed. I smiled to myself thinking that he was going to be pleasantly surprised to see Laura there as well.

I got up at 6:00am the next morning and went to the gym in my building. After a few miles on the treadmill and then using the free weights to work on building my strength back up I returned to my apartment to shower and get ready for the day. Knowing full well I had a stop to make before I went to the hotel I did my best to make sure I looked really good. I straightened my hair and left it loose so it was smooth and shiny. I was somewhat conservative with my make-up, slightly accentuating my eyes and using a dark red lip color. I had decided on a steel gray pencil skirt with a white wide collared dress shirt and a pair of red Louboutin pumps with ankle straps. After fastening my Claddagh earrings and matching necklace, I added my black and silver everyday Kenneth Cole watch and a couple of platinum rings I was almost ready to go. I put on my white full length winter coat, grabbed my oversized Michael Kors black purse, putting my laptop in it and headed out the door. I stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way picking up a couple of dozen assorted donuts, a couple of dozen assorted bagels with multiple flavors of cream cheese and a couple of boxes of Joe. I'm not a coffee drinker but thought everyone down at the District would appreciate it. Leaving everything other than my purse, I got out of my car and walked up the front steps. I smiled as I walked in seeing Trudy at the desk. "Good morning Sargent Platt." I said, a little unsure of what her reaction would be. "Oh my God! I am so happy you are okay! You had us so worried, which I hear was unnecessary because you kicked ass. People are going to think twice before messing with you, and I don't mean because of your Uncle, I mean because you can obviously take care of yourself. And forget that Sargent crap. You call me Trudy from now on." she said. I asked her if she had anyone she could send out to my car. I had separated everything into two piles – one would remain downstairs and one would need to be brought up to Intelligence. She agreed and tossed my keys to someone she only referred to as "Rookie" before asking me if anyone upstairs knew I was here. "Hank wasn't expecting to see me before the 5th. He was going to pick me up at the airport that night but I decided I had too much to do and couldn't lick my wounds forever. Would you mind calling up to him to let him know I'm here?" I asked, starting to doubt my decision to come here, knowing I would see Jay. "Nonsense. I'll just bring you up. Follow me." she said as she scanned her palm and the gate opened leading us up the stairs to where the Intelligence Unit was housed. "Hank, you have a visitor." Trudy announced moving to the side so he could see me. Before Hank or anyone else could say a word, Kim quickly glanced at Jay before jumping out of her seat and ran over to me, spun me around, hugged me and whispered in my ear "Girl you look hot. Really hot. His mouthed dropped when he saw you. No lie." "I missed you too Kim. Friday night, right?" I replied. "Of course, yes to girl's night but um, I want to know when you're hosting girl's weekend down at your beach house. Gabby told me, Stella and Sylvie how beautiful it is." Kim said with a knowing look in her eye. She was trying to give me a signal about Jay but I wasn't ready to look at him just yet. I decided to continue my conversation with her for another minute before I had to turn and look at the rest of the room. "I was thinking Memorial Day weekend. But not just the girls this time. I'll give you the details on Friday." I said, then taking a deep breath I turned around and looked straight into those green eyes.


	16. The New Normal

"Hi." I said, not knowing what else to say to him. It was awkward due to Trudy and Kim standing behind me and the rest of the Intelligence Unit, other than Hank and Al, looking like they were seeing a ghost. He didn't say anything, he just stood there five feet in front of me with a range of emotions flashing across his face. It wasn't the time or place, so I stepped around him and smiled at everyone I passed as I made my way to Hank. "Thank you. By doing what you did for me, you saved me. I needed that time more than you'll ever know." I said, hugging him. "Oh, and Christine brought all you slackers breakfast." Trudy joked as she came back upstairs followed by the "Rookie" who had gone out to my car. After handing back my keys and saying she would see me on my way out, I was once again left with the Intelligence Unit. As they made their way one-by-one, into the break room where breakfast had been set up, I got hugs along with "Welcome back's" and "Good to see you's" from the Unit. All of them stood in the break room as Jay just stood in front of me not saying a word. God, it was driving me crazy. Say something, I wanted to say, but I couldn't so I said "I didn't have my cell phone with me. I didn't get your messages or have a way of seeing your missed calls until I got home last night. I'm sorry you were worried. That wasn't my intent. I hope Hank passed along my message last week that I really was okay." Without saying a word but, looking like he wanted to either kiss me or kill me, Jay turned around and walked down a hallway. There wasn't a sound for a few minutes until I heard a door slam shut.

"Okay, so that wasn't awkward at all." I said to Hank and Al, as we sat in Hank's office with the door closed. "I don't know where we go from here with the case, but I only have about 45 minutes before I need to head to the hotel. Is there anything you want or need to fill me in on?" I asked. I was informed that they hadn't made much progress but, had received intel that El Gato himself would be arriving in Chicago on February 17th. "So, where does that leave me at this point?" I asked. "Do I still need to be watched 24/7?" After being told I did but they were making changes to my security detail and bringing Kenny Rixton onto it, I couldn't help but question why. "Rixton has been with the Gang Unit for years and knows all the players by face. When you're out and about during the day I want him with you for as long as possible." Hank said. They told me, since no one had expected me to be in town today, the would divide up the shifts. For today Adam would head to the hotel with me until Kevin arrived at 3:00pm. Kevin would stay with me until 8:00pm. Kim would then be with me from 8:00pm until midnight, when Roman came back on shift. Starting the next day, for the week I would see Rixton at 7:00am. He would be with me until Adam showed up at 5:00pm. Adam would then be with me until 8:00pm when Kevin showed up. Kevin would be with me until midnight when Roman took over. Seemed simple enough. I told him I would be working longer hours than normal this week trying to get everything wrapped up for the hotel's closing and the relaunch party on March 1st. I had an appointment at Med the next morning but other than that I told him they could plan on me being at the hotel from 7:30am – 7:30pm most days. Friday would be the exception for girl's night. I would make sure I was out of the office by 4:30pm so I could do some errands before the girls showed up. Saturday would most likely be a day of errands, with a few personal appointments and a couple of hours in the office. "You may want to have Kim or Hailey with me on Saturday during the day. Uh, Hank, what about Sunday? It's Super Bowl. I'm planning on watching the game at Molly's. I don't want to have to sit at home and watch it. I want to be able to go out and live my life." I told him. He toldg me we would figure it out, and then told me he would see me the next night, Tuesday, for dinner at my apartment. He would bring take-out so we could talk and really catch up. Strange, a man who I had never met until five weeks ago, had become one of the people in Chicago to care about me the most.

We walked out of the office and Hank immediately went over the plan with the rest of the Unit. I walked over to Adam's desk, careful to not make eye contact with Jay as I walked past him, and asked Adam if he was ready to go. We got in my car and made the drive to the hotel. I immediately went to work and, other than asking Adam what he wanted for lunch, didn't have time to talk to him at all. There was a lot to be done before the hotel closed and we transformed The Beacon into The Hotel 30 – Chicago. I didn't notice when Adam left and Kevin arrived. The next thing I knew it was 7:00pm and Laura told me she was getting ready to head home for the night. I told her I would be in by 11:00am the latest on Tuesday morning due to my follow up appointment with Will at Chicago Med. I looked at Kevin and suggested we stop and pick up take-out on the way home. I texted Kim, letting her know I would have dinner for her when she arrived at 8:00pm. I called in an order to Lou Malnati's and ordered a large Malnati Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza with sausage and extra cheese along with an order of wings and an order of mozzarella sticks. We arrived back at my apartment at 7:45pm, and the three of us ate dinner together before I pulled out my laptop, looking apologetically at Kim. "I wish I could just hang out and relax but the next few weeks are going to be crazy. I have so much work to do." I said to her. "No worries, I understand. I brought a book with me, and the Bachelor is on tonight so I'm all set." she replied. I don't think I looked up again until there was a knock on my door at 10:30pm. "Are you expecting anyone?" She said, pulling her gun out and slowly walking towards the front door. "Hey Kelly. How are you?" I heard her say. Shit, I thought. I had told Kelly I was going to stop by the Fire Station today. "Hey, Kelly. I'm so sorry I didn't swing by. The day just got away from me. Maybe we can do lunch or dinner one day later this week?" I said. "Yeah. No worries. Just wanted to make sure you were okay." he replied. After deciding to have dinner at the hotel on Wednesday night, Kelly said goodnight and headed out the door. I went back to work and other than saying a quick goodnight to Kim and a hello to Roman I didn't look up from my laptop until I heard "Galway Girl" play on my cell phone at 1:00am.

"Jay, it's late. Is everything okay?" I said as I answered the phone. "I'm downstairs. Can I come up?" he responded. "You're downstairs in my building at 1:00am on a Monday night!? Ummm...yeah, come on up. I'll tell Roman you're on your way." I said, wondering how this was going to go. I told Roman to let Jay in when he came up and I was sitting on the couch when Jay walked in. "You look good. Much better than the last time I saw you. I'm happy to see that." he said. "Jay, it's 1:00am. I'm not doing the small talk thing but, thank you for the compliment. What are you doing here?" I asked him, basically cutting to the chase. I had come back to Chicago planning on focusing on work and living my life. Jay Halstead did not fit into that equation. I didn't have the time or energy to do the back and forth thing. I had the biggest, most challenging, four weeks of my career in front of me and was once again reminded why I have avoided relationships since college. "I wanted to apologize. I assumed things about you that I knew weren't true and I did it because I think I was trying to push you away. Not to keep you from getting hurt, but to keep me from getting hurt. My last real relationship with Erin, ended with me about to propose before she cut off ties with everyone and moved to New York. There was no word from her, no "Dear John" letter, no nothing...she just left, and that almost destroyed me. I went downhill faster than I ever thought was possible. It was a few months after that I decided to take the undercover assignment. Mariana was my way in. I wasn't in love with her, but Christine, she was pregnant when she died...pregnant with my child. I then spent the next few months feeling guilty about a death I couldn't have prevented but then grieved for the child I would never meet. Then I met you, and not under the best of circumstances, and things seemed to just spin out of control. I couldn't control anything and that scared me. That scared me and the fact that I fell for you so hard and so fast scared the crap out of me. I pushed you away and I'm sorry for that. I know it's late and we have a lot to talk about, but I've been thinking about it all night. I hope you'll be willing to give me another chance." Jay said. "Jay..." I began, as he cut me off. "No, don't answer me now. Just think about it. I know a little about what you have going on over the next month so I know what a crazy time it is for you. Just think about maybe giving me a call when you have a little free time. We can go at whatever pace you want or need." "Jay, I need to tell you something, well two things actually, before you decide if you truly mean what you just said. The first thing is, the Board of Directors of The Beacon was about to fire me. Uncle Paddy found out and bought the hotel. He signed the deed and title over to me so I own the hotel outright. The second thing is, Kelly Severide was down in Myrtle Beach with me for the past week. We are strictly friends and nothing more but, I wanted to make sure you heard it from me. If you can deal with those two things then let's see what happens. And to steal your line, don't answer me now. Just think about it." I said smiling at him. I then stood up and surprised the both of us by telling him he had to go because I had to get up early in the morning.

I was finishing getting dressed and ready to go when Kenny Rixton arrived at my apartment the next morning. I hadn't been able to sleep well after Jay left so I got up at 4:30am after tossing and turning. I decided to work out for an hour before making Roman and I scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast. I left my hair curly and applied my signature makeup with accentuated eyes and dark red lips before dressing for the day in a Calvin Klein black skirt suit with a black and white sleeveless v-neck top under the suit jacket. I slipped into my black and white Louboutin Esoteri ankle boots and headed out to the living room where I greeted my babysitter. "Good Morning Detective Rixton. I'll be ready to go in two minutes." I said. "Please call me Kenny, or Rixton. Whatever you call the rest of the unit is fine, Ms. Brennan." he replied. "Well if I'm going to call you by your first name you can call me by my first name as well." I said, smiling at him. "Wow! Um, I mean okay. Thank you. Ah, I'll be just outside the door, in the hall when you're ready to go." he said tripping over his words. "You just can't help yourself, can you?" a familiar voice said to me. "Good morning to you too Connor. Why are you in my apartment so early on a Tuesday morning?" I said. After he said he was checking to make sure I was heading to see Will today I assured him I was but had to go to the hotel first. I told him I would have Will page him when I arrived so they could lecture me together, but it had to be a short lecture because I had a full calendar today. I then put on my red pea coat, grabbed my black bag, my laptop, my car keys and headed out the door.

After getting cleared by Will who decided I was as healthy as I would ever be, I was pulled into a conference room where Connor, Nat, April, Ethan and Maggie sat. "Oh no. I'm not doing this today. I am sorry if I worried anyone but I needed to get away. And it's not like I didn't have people watching me. And I know I deserve to be yelled at but can we wait until after the hotel's grand opening? I have too much to do and barely enough time to pee, never mind be lectured over the next four weeks. Please? I'll take you all to brunch after the hotel opens and you can all yell at me together. Promise." I said, smiling at them. "Oh, you suck! That smile isn't going to make us forget, but it will make us forgive a little. We're just glad you're okay." Nat said as she got up and hugged me. Then, whispering, she asked me about Jay. "Fill you in later." I responded as I walked out the door to where Rixton was waiting for me. My day went by just as quickly as Monday did. I barely noticed as Kenny left and Adam arrived. I did text Hank and ask him if he could meet me at my office for dinner. I wasn't going to make it home at a decent hour. It would be a miracle if I made it home before 11:00pm. I had decided on a new logo for the hotel and ordered all new stationary, business cards for the managers, and then started on the room décor. I wasn't changing the overall décor, just the bedding and the amenities for the most part. Everything else was only three years old and in really good condition. I was putting together a proposal for a new bar in the hotel. One that had specific ties to Chicago and the community but then I realized I didn't actually have to send a proposal to anyone. I decided to put together a mini-proposal and review it with Laura the next day to get her opinion. If she liked my idea then I was going to review it with the Director of Food & Beverage and the Operations Manager before bringing it to the fire station and reviewing it with Gabby, Hermann and Otis. I wanted to franchise another branch of Molly's in the hotel.

Hank sent Adam home when he arrived at 7:00pm and told Atwater to meet me at the hotel at 9:00pm. I ordered burgers and fries for both of us and we ate at the conference table in my office. "So, kid how are you doing? Really?" he asked. "I'm okay. I really am. I'm focusing on getting my life back and not living in fear anymore. I know I have to be cautious but I'm not going to let the Cartel prevent me from being me. I'm sure that sounds crazy." I said. He told me he understood and then he changed the subject mentioning he had read in Roman's report that Jay showed up at my apartment late last night. "I'm not sure where it's going to go, if it's going to go anywhere at all. I was upfront with him telling him that my Uncle bought the hotel and then signed it over to me. I also told him about Kelly spending a week down in Myrtle Beach but, assured him we are just friends. He talked to me a little about Erin and Mariana. I didn't know she was pregnant when she died. No wonder why Jay was such a mess after it happened." I said. "I don't think she was pregnant. I just haven't been able to prove it. Jay needs to tell you the entire story of what happened that night but I'm working on getting proof that she wasn't pregnant. It was a set-up. I think El Gato and Ramon had an idea that Jay wasn't who he said he was and Mariana was part of the plan." Hank told me. I said in shock, hoping that she hadn't lied to him about something like that. "Ruzek was right, this was the best burger I've ever had. I hope you're keeping this on the menu after you reopen. I'm gonna let you get back to work. Atwater just texted me that he is pulling in now." Hank said. After assuring him that the burgers would remain on the menu and the Chef was choosing to remain at the hotel, I gave Hank a hug thanking him once again for everything.

The week flew by and before I knew it Friday night and girl's night had arrived. Thankfully there was no set up from anyone and it was a low key let's catch up, eat and drink too much type of night. I had received occasional text messages from Jay but hadn't seen him since he left my apartment on Monday night. I slept until 9:30am on Saturday morning and when I woke up I smelled breakfast cooking. I could smell French Toast and bacon. I wasn't sure who was cooking but they better have made enough for me, I thought to myself. After washing my face and putting my hair up in a messy bun I changed out of my pajamas and I threw on a pair of old sweats and wool socks. I walked through my living room and as I passed the dining room on my way into the kitchen I noticed the table was set for two people. My Kate Spade New York Whitaker Street china plates were set at each place setting along with my Kate Spade flatware and Library Collection champagne flutes. There were also yellow roses, my favorite, in my Waterford Crystal Northbridge Vase sitting in the middle of the table. A wine chiller held a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and there was a carafe of orange juice on the table. As I stood, trying to figure out what was going on, I heard footsteps behind me. "Good morning. I hope you're hungry." Jay said to me. "It smells wonderful, but what are you doing here?" I asked following him back into the kitchen. "Cooking you breakfast. I thought this could be something I would do on Saturday morning's since I'm on Christine duty on Saturday's for the foreseeable future. It's kind of the new normal." he replied. "Jay, seriously. What's going on?" After telling me that he knew I had the day off but some appointments (hair, nails, waxing, etc) he decided he would be my body guard for the day and he thought we needed a good breakfast to start off the day. Breakfast was wonderful and the mimosas definitely relaxed us enough so we went back to being flirty, trying to forget about the stress and the situation that had originally brought us together. True to his word, Jay drove me to the salon where I spent over three hours being worked on. When I was done, I told him I did need to swing by the hotel since I wasn't working at all the next day. I was in and out of the hotel in under an hour and then we headed back to my apartment. "What do you have planned for tonight?" he asked as I pulled into my parking spot in the underground garage. "Nothing, why?" I replied. "Christine, will you go on a date with me?" he asked.


	17. Date Night

**A/N: Warning - Sexual Content. Things definitely take a turn in this chapter and what Christine does at the end could possibly result in Jay walking away from her for good when he finds out. It's going to result in a favor being called in that will eventually lead her down a path she may not be able to come back from.**

* * *

I can't believe he asked me on a date. An actual date! After walking me to my door, and checking to make sure my apartment was safe, he promised me he would take care of the specifics and be back at 8:00pm to pick me up. After quickly kissing me good-bye, when Upton showed up for babysitting duty, he looked at me with such longing in his eyes that I became determined to look nothing short of amazing. I took extra care with my shower and shampoo routine making sure that any area that was supposed to be hairless was. I washed, conditioned and straightened my auburn hair until it was shiny and smooth. After lathering my skin with a scented moisturizer and carefully applying my makeup I was ready to get dressed. By 7:30pm I was ready and the nerves were setting in. I took one last look in the giant full-length mirror leaning against my bedroom wall and I was definitely more than satisfied with how I looked on the outside. The fitted knee-length burgundy velvet strapless dress had a high slit that worked its way up my right thigh. I slipped into a pair of silver beaded stilettos with ankle straps which added another four inches, to my 5'1 frame (making me slightly closer to Jay's 5'8 stature). After clasping a thick beaded silver choker around my neck, I fastened my diamond teardrop earrings smiling to myself thinking about the night to come.

As I walked out into the living room, where Hailey was watching tv and eating something she had found in my fridge, she looked up and smirked. "What?" I asked her. She was probably the one in the Unit I knew the least and for some reason I wasn't 100% comfortable around her. "Halstead's going to forget about leaving this apartment the minute he sees you. But I guess that's your plan, right? To make him fall back under your spell, and what better place to make that happen than in bed." she said. "I'm not sure how my sex life, Jay's sex life or our relationship is any of your business. And I'm not going to have you sit here, in my apartment and judge me or make unnecessary comments about me when you barely know me. If you continue, I'm going to ask you to do what the uniformed cops do and stand guard outside. Otherwise, you can keep your thoughts to yourself while you sit there and eat MY food that you helped yourself to from MY refrigerator." I replied, my ocean blue eyes turning almost a glacial blue color as I glared at her. "Look, Halstead is my partner and it's my duty to have his back. I don't want to see him get messed up or hurt again. It was bad enough when you disappeared for 3 ½ weeks. Though I'm sure he would have come around if you had just stayed away. I don't think you're good for him. You have everyone fooled with your sweet girl image, but I'm not buying it." She retorted, her dislike for me evident in her voice. I picked up the remote from the coffee table and pointing it in the direction of the flat screen above my fireplace I turned it off. "I'm going to ask you to wait outside for the rest of your shift." I said picking up the plate she had placed on the coffee table along with her glass of water before I turned and walked into the kitchen. As I poured myself a glass of wine, Hailey's words played over in my head and I wondered if Jay and I were heading down a road we shouldn't be on. My phone then buzzed, and I looked, seeing a message from Jay. I opened the message to read that he was on his way and he would see me soon. I then texted Hank. As far as I was concerned, Hailey was toxic and not someone I wanted in my life. Maybe I was overreacting but I didn't actually believe she would go out of her way to protect me if it came down to it. I asked Hank to remove her from the security rotation and told him it was a personal preference if it wouldn't be too inconvenient.

After sending the text, I continued to drink my glass of wine when there was a knock on the door. It felt weird, I thought to myself, finally getting to answer my own door for the first time in five weeks. Looking through the peephole I saw Jay. I opened the door to find Jay standing there in black pants, a black button up shirt and black suit jacket. Holy shit, he looks hot I thought to myself. I smiled at him, a true smile that reached my eyes. "Hi." I said. "Hi. You look beautiful." he responded, as he looked me up and down. I don't think beautiful was really the description he was thinking but technically this was a first date and he was trying to be a gentleman. "Hey do y'all think we can move this party inside?" Atwater said, standing behind Jay. I looked at Jay in confusion, and as the three of us walked into the living room I was told that Atwater was on duty tonight. Since we were both targets of the Cartel we still needed protection. Atwater told me that Antonio was already at the venue we were headed to, making sure it was secure but the two of them would give Jay and I as much space as possible. "We have chaperone's?" I asked Jay, my eyes twinkling in amusement. "I haven't had a chaperone since middle school. I mean, I know it's a serious situation but I'm definitely finding the humor in it." Jay looked relieved and smiled in return, saying "At least we have a designated driver." "Well, if that's the case do you want a drink before we go? Atwater, I can always get you a bottle of water." I said, laughing. After being told we didn't have time, I grabbed my silver beaded clutch before slipping into my white winter coat. Taking a hold of my hand, while Jay ran his thumb the top of my hand, we followed Atwater out the door. Refusing to tell me where we were going, Jay and I sat in the back of Kevin's car. I couldn't help but laugh again as I said, "Kevin, you make an excellent Chauffeur." Jay leaned over, promising me we would have some private time on our date. "It's okay. I understand. I'm just happy to actually be out with you." I said, noticing the look of excitement in his eyes.

I was shocked when the car stopped at the John Hancock Center on Michigan Ave. Realizing where he was taking me, I looked at him and said "Jay, you're not taking me to The Signature Room for our first date. It's way too expensive." "Stop. I want you to enjoy this." He said before he got out of the car and walked around to my side, opening the door and giving me his hand to help me out of the car. When the elevator opened on the 95th floor, giving way to the stunning view overlooking Lake Michigan, Jay said to the host "Reservation for Halstead. Jay Halstead." he said, making me smile thinking he sounded very James Bond-ish. "Yes, Mr. Halstead. Right this way." the Maitre D' said, leading us to our table. We were seated at a window table for two, overlooking the edge of the Chicago skyline with Lake Michigan just behind it. Within moments, a Sommelier appeared with a bottle of wine. "Mr. Halstead, the 2013 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon" as you requested. "The lady will taste." Jay said motioning to me. I raised an eyebrow and he flashed a grin in return. I swirled, sniffed and then tasted the wine. "Excellent. Thank you." I said, smiling at the Sommelier. "My pleasure. Plese do not hesitate to let me know if you need anything else or would like me to recommend another option when dessert arrives." he said before putting the wine down and heading to another table. "You dazzle him with your smile. Actually, you dazzle everyone with that beautiful smile of yours, especially me." he said reaching for my hand. I blushed, and then said "Jay, this really is too much. I know what that bottle of wine goes for in a restaurant. As much as I enjoy it, you didn't have to do that...or any of this." "Christine, just enjoy it. I put a lot of thought into it. I want us to have a relaxing evening and really take this opportunity to continue to get to know each other. I hope you don't mind but I wanted this to be a surprise, so I took the liberty of pre-ordering." he replied. I was shocked. That wasn't something I ever expected Jay Halstead to do. A server quietly approached the table with the Raw Bar Appetizer for Two. It was one of my favorite things on their appetizer menu, containing a half Maine lobster, eight oysters (normally it was four oysters and four shrimp but, knowing I didn't like shrimp, Jay had asked them for a substitution) and a pound of king crab legs. For an entrée I was served a 7oz filet mignon while Jay enjoyed his 14oz New York Strip. He had ordered parmesan garlic whipped potatoes, herb mushrooms and sautéed asparagus for us to share as sides. For dessert I had the vanilla bean crème brulee with a glass of Good Harbor Riesling and Jay had the peppermint cheesecake with a glass of Alcyone Late Harvest Tannat Dessert Wine. Dinner was amazing. The food was divine and the service excellent, but neither could compare to the company. I couldn't remember ever being on a date like this before. It was magical.

"Jay, that was amazing. Thank you so much." I said as he helped me into my coat. "The night's not over yet." he said. Taking my hand, we headed towards the elevators as Atwater and Dawson appeared out of thin air and rode down with us. "Halstead, the last part of the evening needs to take a raincheck. We need to get you back to Christine's apartment. Orders from Voight. Ruzek is waiting in a car out front to take you there. Voight will fill you in when you get to Christine's." Antonio told us. The bubble of happiness that I was feeling, burst right then and there. "What's going on? What happened?" Jay asked, his voice sounding stressed. "El Gato arrived in Chicago early. We'll see you at Christine's in a few minutes." Atwater said as I got in the back of Ruzek's car and Jay hopped in the passenger seat. The mood was very tense, and I was trying to not let the tears of disappointment and fear fall down my face. We walked into my apartment, where Hank and Al were already waiting for us. "Do you have a key to my apartment? Do I even want to know how the two of you got in here?" I asked. Not answering my question, Al turned to me and said that he was sorry they had to interrupt our date. At that point, the rest of the Unit arrived, including, much to my dismay, Hailey Upton. "Look, this is what we know so far. El Gato arrived at O'Hare an hour ago. Rixton and O'Brien, from the Gang Unit currently have eyes on him. My suggestion is to move Christine and Halstead to a safe house, until the person we have on the inside with El Gato's crew can update us on the plan." Hank said. "Absolutely, not. I don't care anymore Hank. Let them come after me. I'm over it. I have a life to live and a job to do so I'm not going to sit in a safe house. They obviously want me more than they do Jay. They didn't do shit the entire time I was in South Carolina. Someone informed them I was back. I'm beginning to think there is a leak somewhere in the Chicago PD." I said furiously. Al excused himself to take a phone call at that point as Jay tried to reason with me. "Babe, it's your safety that concerns me. It won't be for long. You know Voight will take care of it. Let's just get you settled somewhere safe." he said. "Get me settled somewhere safe, Halstead? Seriously? And what about you? Are you going to hide out in the safe house with me?" I asked. Before he could answer, Al walked back into the living room and said "Game on. The hit has been ordered and the bounty is higher than we thought it would be. It's $100K for Christine and $50K for Halstead." "WHAT?" I screamed. "There's a price on my head? And Jay's head? I'm telling you right now, Hank. You have five days to figure out how to shut this down before I notify Finn O'Doyle. He'll get word to Uncle Paddy and I'll let them take care of it. You know they will and to be perfectly honest I don't really give a fuck if it starts a war in Chicago, in your city, between the Irish and the Colombians. As long as Jay is okay and unhurt. That's all I care about. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to ask you all to leave. Put more uniforms on the main entrance of the building and outside of my apartment if you want but no one, unless I invite them, is coming into my apartment. I'm leaving here tomorrow afternoon at 3:00pm and going to Molly's, with Connor, to watch the Super Bowl, so I'll let you all figure out security logistics and my transportation. Good night." I said, my eyes flashing and my tone reflecting the no nonsense tone my Uncle Paddy and I both tend to use when we are putting someone in their place.

No one moved or said a word for a second. They looked from me to Hank, unsure what to do. Hank told them they heard what I said and it was time to give me my space for the night. After a few quick good-bye's, Jay and I were left alone with Hank. "I'm going to have Dawson, Atwater and Roman on the door tonight. I'll have more uniforms posted throughout the lobby. No one will get past us. Tomorrow I'll reach out to the Director of Security at the hotel and put a plan in place with him. We will use this, for the time being, as your safe house, but you don't leave here without clearing it first. That means if you think you want to go to the corner market you call me first. Do you understand?" Hank said sternly, trying to stress the importance of what he was saying. "Yes." I said. "I don't want to get in your business, but I need to ask. Halstead, are you staying here tonight or are you headed home?" Hank asked. Jay looked at me, his eyes still filled with lust and a need that I'm sure matched mine. "He is staying here. He'll be coming to Molly's with me tomorrow as well, so someone will have to run him home first to get a change of clothes and anything else he might need." I said answering for him. Hank said he would be in touch in the morning and giving me a hug, told me not to worry. After following him to the door, I locked it and turned back to Jay saying "I don't know about you but I could definitely use another drink right now." I walked back into the kitchen and instead of going for the wine in the fridge, I pulled out a bottle of Jameson from the cabinet along with two glasses.

Walking back into the living room I turned on the gas fireplace and put music on low. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, unsure of what to make of me and my demeanor. "Not tonight. I'm ignoring the outside world tonight and instead, I'm proposing we continue our date night. What do you think?" I asked. "That sounds like the best idea I've heard over the past thirty minutes." he said, brushing my hair back over my shoulder and softly kissing me. We sat on the couch and as we continued to talk over a couple of drinks of Jameson I could feel myself getting angry. I was angry that we now had a cloud over our heads and a bounty on our heads. I needed a distraction. "So, what was the part of the date that we missed out on?" I asked him, trying to distract him as well. "I'm not giving away my secrets just yet. We'll take a raincheck on it and hopefully we can reschedule for next weekend with no babysitters." he said, smiling at me and rubbing his fingers across my bare shoulder. "I have an event at the hotel next Saturday night. It's the last wedding we are hosting before the doors to The Beacon close. Because it's a VIP event, I need to be there for it and probably won't be done until midnight or 1:00am. The following Saturday, I have our closing party to oversee. The owners decided they want to go out with a bang before the doors shut on the 15th and the name comes off the building. I don't have a Saturday night free for three weeks and my work schedule during the week is going to be insane for the next month or so. I'm not sure when we will get to do this again." I said to him. "It's okay, we'll find time." he told me, taking the glass out of my hand, his eyes telling me exactly what he was planning to do to me.

"You're so beautiful and looked stunning tonight but Christine, I need to tell you something. I can't wait to get you out of that dress." I stood up, reaching for his hand leading the way to my bedroom. Once we were in there I switched the music over from the living room to instead play in my bedroom. As I lit the candles that I had on my night stands and on my dresser, I began to feel my heart race in anticipation. I dimmed the light and that's when I beckoned Jay over to where I was standing with a grin and a nod of my head. He crossed the room, grabbed me and spun me around. He brushed my hair over my right should and started kissing the back of my neck as he unzipped my dress. As the dress slipped to the floor he spun me around and groaned as he looked at me. "Are you fucking kidding me? You've been naked under that dress this whole time?" he asked in disbelief. I stood there in my stilettos and nodded my head. I walked over to the bed and leaned back holding one leg up in the air. He dropped his suit jacket on the floor as he walked over and took my shoe off. Then he took the second shoe off, nibbling on my toes as his hands made their way up my leg. I shifted and kneeled in front of him on the bed unbuttoning his shirt. By the time I was about to unzip his pants I could see how hard he was. Once I had him fully naked I pulled him onto the bed and pushed him onto his back kissing him. I worked my way from his mouth to his neck down his chest, stopping only to flick each nipple with my tongue. By the time my mouth reached his abs I heard him moan. I moved even lower taking his hard cock in my mouth. As I continued to suck on his shaft, moving up and down I got a slight taste of him. I looked up, grinning as I licked my lips which was apparently too much for him to handle. He sat up and flipped me over so I was on my back. He then worked his way down my body. Stopping to bite and suck my already hard nipples, his hands made their way below my waist and found my pussy wet and dripping for him. His mouth found his way down to where his fingers had been. His tongue went to work causing me to orgasm almost instantly. "Please Jay." I begged. "I need to feel you inside of me. Fuck me." I opened my legs and wrapped them around his waist, lifting my hips up to meet his thrusting. "Oh God Christine" he said thrusting hard into me groaning as he released himself.

"Detective Halstead, you look like that cat that ate the canary, with that smile on your face." I said, teasing him. Neither one of us had been able to move and thirty minutes later we were still laying in my bed as I traced circles with my fingers across Jay's chest. "I'm pretty sure your grin matches mine. You're looking pretty satisfied." he said as he tipped my face up in his direction, kissing me deeply and thoroughly, letting me know there would be more to come. "I'm gonna grab a bottle of water, do you want one?" I asked, getting up and putting my robe on. I walked through the living room and into my kitchen, thinking it had been one hell of a first date. With the exception of a bounty on our heads, I thought if tonight was any sort of preview of what was to come in the future I was definitely all in. I knew the bubble would burst again tomorrow morning and not wanting to ruin the night I opted not to say anything to him. I realized I was in over my head, and there was only one person in the world who would be able to save me. I walked over to the counter where my clutch was. I pulled out my phone, sending a quick text that said "Bounty on my head - $100K. Bounty on Halstead - $50K. Told Voight 5 days before I reach out to you. I can't wait 5 days. Need you to fix it...no matter what it takes. Can't talk. Will call tmrw morning." I shut my phone off, put it back in my clutch and walked back into my bedroom where a very sexy and very naked Jay Halstead was waiting for me.


	18. The Deal With The Devil

The next morning Ruzek arrived at 9:00am to drive Jay home so he could grab a change of clothes before we headed to Molly's to watch the game. Kim was to watch over me until the guys got back. Since we weren't heading to Molly's until 3:00pm, I called the hotel and placed a last minute food order of a 6ft Italian sub with all the fixings, four dozen wings, three orders of potato skins and three orders of nachos. I decided to host an impromptu pre-Super Bowl party at my apartment. I was expecting the Intelligence Unit, Roman, Laura, Connor, Will, Ethan, Matt, Sylvie, Kelly, Cruz, Trudy and Mouch to arrive at 12:00pm. Gabby and Stella would already be at Molly's with Hermann and Otis getting ready for the busy afternoon, so they said they would see us when we got there. Telling Kim we needed to head to the hotel to pick up the food would give me the opportunity to make the phone call from my office that I needed to without be overheard. I could just play it off that it was a confidential financial call that had to do with the hotel's closing. And that's exactly what I did. Before getting the food from the hotel's kitchen, I walked into my office closing the doors behind me and leaving Kim in the conference room located down the hall from my office, but still within the Executive Offices, so she would be in shouting distance if I needed her.

Sitting at my desk, I picked up the phone and made my call. "Did you get my text?" I asked in lieu of a greeting. "Yes, little one. I did. You're risking a lot by asking me to handle this. It's going to upset a lot of people. You know I would take care of the bounty on your head and get the Cartel off your back without a problem now that you have actually reached out to me, asking me to take care of it. But, because you are now involving the Detective there's going to be favors I need to call in and as a result, little one, you're going to owe me." Uncle Paddy told me. "I know. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep Jay safe. I don't think the Chicago PD can handle this. I also think there's a leak, a mole, within Voight's ranks. I need you to look into that as well. Uncle Paddy, these people have become very important to me and I don't want to see any of them get hurt because they're trying to protect me. I told Voight I don't care if this causes a war between the Irish and the Cartel. I want this dealt with now." I told him, pausing knowing the next words that came out of my mouth would not only change my life forever but, if anyone found out, these words would disappoint my Dad and destroy any chance of a real future I could have with Jay. "I'm all in Uncle Paddy. Whatever it takes and whatever I need to do to keep Jay safe, I will. All I ask is that I remain protected and the least amount of people possible know about this conversation. You've been after me for almost ten years to join the family business and for two years now to take over Chicago. I know Finn is getting old, and let's face it, his two successors are more equipped to be soldiers, not leaders. Shamus and Liam don't have the brains. I'll do it Uncle Paddy but you need to bring in someone to be the face of the organization. I'll call the shots from the shadows, from behind that person, if that's what it takes to keep Jay safe." I said. "Welcome to the family business, little one. It was inevitable, you must know that. I have always known you have been the one who would replace me when the time comes. We will work out your taking over the family business in Chicago after we settle this mess with the Cartel. You can expect to see a face from the past in Chicago soon. I called in a favor to the people who hate the Colombian Cartel as much as we do. Enjoy the Super Bowl and I'll be in touch." he said, rather cryptically ending the call. I meant what I told him. I would do anything to keep Jay safe. Even if it meant selling my soul to the Devil.

By 11:15am, Kim and I were back at my apartment setting out the food and drinks. We decided to use my 98" Kosas Home Elodie dining room table as the buffet table. Moving the chairs and strategically placing them in the living room, I looked at the table that I fell in love with the minute I saw it in the store. Made from solid reclaimed pine wood, with an antique finish, it was hand carved displaying artisanal details and rustic charm. The burgundy button tufted wingback chairs hadn't been part of the set but I liked them so much better than the chairs that had been on display with the table in the store. The large sandwich (which was already sliced into good size portions) was displayed in the middle of the table along with the nachos, wings and potato skins that were all being kept warm in the tinfoil chafing pans Chef Daniel had instructed his staff to pack them in. I set out paper plates and paper napkins, with the Patriots logo on them, for people to use (no fine china was being used today). I had also picked up a variety of beer from the hotel as well and the beer bottles along with various types of white wine, cans of soda and bottled water were chilling in two coolers on my dining room floor floor. Along the top of the credenza in my dining room was an assortment of red wine and liquor. As Kim and I glanced at the setup I was confident we were well prepared to handle the last minute crowd of eighteen plus any stragglers that may show up as well. Noticing the time, I told Kim I would be right back and then I ran into my bedroom, quickly changing into my white Patriots jersey, an Amendola shirt with the number 80 on it, a pair of light blue cuffed distress jeans and my Patriots canvas sneakers. I was proudly supporting my team today even tho I knew I would most likely be the only Patriots fan in the bar. Although the rest of the bar would be filled with Chicago residents and fans, they would be pulling for the Philadelphia Eagles. No one liked the Patriots unless you were from New England, had previously lived in New England or held strong ties to New England I thought to myself as I got dressed. I decide to leave my hair looking slightly wild, loose and curly. After touching up my makeup I walked into the living room, stopping dead in my tracks at the sight I saw in front of me. "Jay Halstead! What in the world are you wearing!?" I asked in disbelief as I looked at him wearing a blue Patriots Gronkowski jersey. "Hey when you don't have a dog in the fight you gotta support your girls team. Plus, I like Gronk. The man's a beast." he said, smiling at me. "People are going to make fun of you." I whispered to him as Kim used my iPhone to snap a picture of the two of us, in front of my fireplace. "It's okay. You're worth it and I can take it. That's a good picture, text it to me." Jay said as he kissed me.

By 2:45pm everyone was ready to head to Molly's. Because I didn't want anyone to worry about drinking and driving, I had arranged to have two of the ten passenger hotel shuttles take us down to Molly's and then bring us back to my apartment after the game. Those who were sober enough to drive home could do so and for those who weren't the shuttle would drive them home. I had also, as a surprise, had the hotel deliver enough food for 100 people to Molly's. People would spend the afternoon eating a variety of sandwiches, nachos, wings, potato skins, mozzarella sticks, onion rings and sliders. I would be approaching Hermann, Otis and Gabby next week about a Molly's franchise so I was trying to butter them up in advance. It was a great afternoon and other than the uniformed cops at the door, checking ID's and for weapons, you wouldn't have thought any of us had a care in the world. I had the opportunity to officially be introduced to Capp and Tony from Squad 3 and Chief Boden. As I stood to the side of the bar, I was amazed that I was really the only true Patriots fan in the bar. Jay and I were the only ones in Patriots gear. I walked to the front of the bar, trying not to call any attention to my myself, I snapped a selfie clearing showing no other Pats fans in the bar. I quickly uploaded it to my Instagram account and captioned it "Lone Wolf" with hashtags I knew would make my friends from home laugh: #OnlyPatsFanInMollys #JustLikeBeingAtYankeeStadiumInRedSoxGear #TheyAreAllJealous #NotDone #GoPats #BradyNeedsNumberSix #DolaBaby. The comments I got made me laugh but that was the first time Jay had requested to follow me on any of my social media accounts. Since my account was private, and Sylvie or Kelly probably showed him the post, he had requested to follow me. Interesting, I thought, as I quickly accepted his request. I started following him knowing that I would spend some time the next day trolling his account.

Maybe an hour before the game started, one of the uniformed officers came in and told me there was someone outside to see me. They had searched him for weapons and he had come up clean. They said he didn't want to go into the bar but just needed two minutes of my time. Obviously, I wasn't permitted to go outside by myself so Hank, Antonio and Jay went with me. Antonio went out first and giving the all clear I was flanked on either side by Hank and Jay. We walked outside and I looked into the eyes of someone I hadn't seen since I was 16. I may not have seen him in 14 years but I recognized him immediately. "It's been a while, Christine. Your eyes are just as mesmerizing as I remembered in my dreams but are now set in the face, of not a cute young girl but, a gorgeous woman who exuberates class and confidence even in her Patriots gear." he said. I glanced to my right and thought "oh shit" as I saw the tick in Jay's left cheek. I then looked back at the man standing in front of me sand said, "It's been almost 14 years to the day since you last saw me. I'm pretty sure you haven't been dreaming about my eyes since then. What are you doing in Chicago, Joseph, and how did you find me?" Handing me a small white box, with a familiar logo on the top that had my mouth watering thinking about the contents inside, he grinned and said, "If I remember correctly these were always your favorite...cannoli's from Mike's Pastry in the North End. Your Uncle told me where I might find you when he learned of my trip. By the way, my Mother sends her love and an open invitation to dinner the next time you're in Boston. She enjoyed her three day visit with you, when you stayed at our house, all those years ago. Made her wish she and my Father had a daughter. Anyway, I'm staying at your hotel. I thought it would be nice to catch up tomorrow night for dinner. I'll contact your office around 10:00am to confirm. Enjoy the game, il mio amore." Without acknowledging Hank, Antonio or Jay, he then turned and got into the back seat of a waiting car leaving me to deal with the mess he left in his wake. "Who the fuck was that?" Jay asked. Knowing I couldn't lie, I simply told the truth. "Joseph DiStefano. Our families know each other. Well more so my Uncle knows his Dad. Joseph's Father was the Consigliere who kidnapped me 14 years ago. Weird...haven't seen him since then and he looks almost exactly the same. Come on, all the good pregame stuff is on and I don't want to miss the National Anthem." I said as I turned and walked back into Molly's. "We're going to have to talk about this." Jay said, following me into Molly's. "Nothing to talk about Jay. I haven't heard from or seen Joseph since the day I was returned to my parents. I don't know why he is here and I have nothing to hide where he is concerned. Have dinner with us tomorrow night and you'll see. Plus, you know, as well as I do, Hank is probably having someone run his background right now. Don't let this ruin what has been a great day so far." I said smiling at him before I continued, whispering in his ear, "And Detective Halstead, if you relax and I see you having a good time I"ll have a special treat for you later on when we're alone." "Oh, really? Well if that's the case why don't you go buy me that drink you owe me and meet me back at our table." he said, kissing me before walking over to where Hank, Al and Antonio were standing.

Shit, I thought to myself as I waited to get Gabby or Stella's attention at the bar. Molly's was packed with mostly people I didn't recognize so I wasn't surprised to see a stranger to my left. "Here." the stranger said holding out a phone. "Use this to contact Joe and Paddy. No more business calls from your personal cell." I looked at the iPhone in his hand and said "It looks just like mine." "Paddy had me hack your iCloud account and basically clone your phone. The only numbers in this phone belong to Joe, Paddy, Finn and me. I'm O'Malley. Take it. I gotta go. I'll be seeing you around, Boss." the stranger said shoving the phone into my hand before he disappeared. "Great pre-bash at your place earlier. Thanks for the invite and thanks for including Cruz. Hey, are you okay?" Kelly asked noticing my porcelain skin had somehow managed to go a shade whiter than it already was and my eyes were wide with anxiety as they darted around the bar wondering if anyone had noticed or overheard the interaction that just occurred. Before I could respond Stella stopped in front of me to get my drink order. "Two Bud Lights and two shots of Jack Fire. Hold up a second. Want a shot, Kelly?" I asked. He nodded and I told Stella to make it five shots, two Bud Lights and whatever Kelly wanted for a beer. "When does two plus one equal five? What's going on with you Christine? You were fine until I saw you walk outside with Voight, Dawson and Halstead." I told Stella to put it on my tab, knowing my credit card had been swiped when we first got to the bar that afternoon. "Cheers, Kell." I said handing him the shot, while I chose to ignore his questions and comments. We took our shots and then I surprised him by doing a second shot right away. I now had two shots and two beers for Jay and I to enjoy at our table, where we were sitting with Ruzek, Kim and Will. "What's with the back to back shots, Christine? That's not like you." Kelly said. Knowing I could trust him I smiled sadly and said "I made a deal with the Devil in order to keep Jay safe. I can't talk about it here and even when we talk I can't go into much detail but I need you to keep whatever I tell you between us. I gotta get back to Jay before he wonders what's taking me so long. I'll catch up with you later."


	19. Revelations

The next morning, with Jay lightly snoring next to me, I laid in bed wondering if there was a way to get out of the mess I was in. I hadn't slept more than five hours and knew that even though I didn't have to be in the office until 9:00am today there was no going back to sleep. At 5:00am, I quietly got up, changed into workout attire and headed down to the gym in my building, with one of the uniformed officers who had been guarding my door trailing behind me while the other remained at his post. I had just hit mile 5 on the treadmill when the door opened and Hank walked in. "You're up early. Figured with the shots you did yesterday and the beers consumed after the Patriots lost the game you would still be in bed." he said. "I wasn't drunk yesterday. Definitely buzzed but not drunk. Besides, I'm 100% Irish and have a high tolerance. It's in my blood. Plus, I need to work off the calories I consumed over this weekend when I ate and drank my weight each day. What brings you to my neck of the woods before 6:00am?" I asked him not slowing my speed as I continued my run. "Shut the machine off Christine. We need to talk." he ordered. "I need to do a cool down. You can talk as I walk." I said, my stomach knotting up in fear that he had somehow found out about the deal I had made with my Uncle. "What's Joseph DiStefano really doing in Chicago?" he asked. "Obviously, you know as much as I do. Jay and I are having dinner with him tonight to find out but I have a feeling my Uncle Paddy sent him here. Not sure why he would be reaching out to the Italians. I would like to think it's pure coincidence, but I think we both know that's not likely." I responded. I was trying to answer his questions as honestly as possible. I didn't want to lie to Hank. He had done so much for me but I couldn't let him find out what I had done. Not until I found a way out of it. After telling me nothing had changed with the security detail schedule, and Rixton would be outside my door at 7:00am, he left, leaving me to wonder if he believed me or not.

I headed back upstairs and at 6:30am Jay got up to find me cooking breakfast in the kitchen. "I woke up earlier and reached for you to find the bed empty. Where did you go? Mmmmm...smells good in here." he said. "Went down to the gym to work out. It doesn't smell as good as it does when you cook, and not as fancy as the breakfast you made me on Saturday morning, considering it's a Monday and we both have to work today. Grab a seat on one of the barstools. We'll eat at the counter." I said. As we enjoyed the omelets with chorizo, peppers, onions and cheese and a side of fresh fruit I told him about my early visit from Hank and then asked if he would be able to wrap up his day to have dinner with Joseph and I tonight. I told him I was thinking about making reservations for 8:00pm at Trattoria No. 10 in the theatre district. "You're going to take an Italian to an Italian restaurant?" Jay asked, laughing. "I like that restaurant and never think to go there, so yeah. Do you think you can make it?" I asked again. After telling me he would pick me up at the hotel at 7:30pm, he told me to go shower and get ready for the day while he took care of cleaning up the breakfast mess. As I walked through the living room, I turned to see him looking very much at home in my kitchen and realized how much I liked having him in my apartment...how much I liked having him in my bed...how much I liked having him in my life. I ran back over to him, telling him the dishes could wait and pulled him towards the master bath in my bedroom and into the shower with me. "Not that I minded in the least, but what brought that on?" he asked me a short time later as he watched me get ready for my day. I was sitting at the vanity in my bathroom, applying my makeup, and met his eyes in the reflection of the mirror. I blushed and said "I realized for some reason at that exact moment how much I've enjoyed having you here these past few days." He smiled and in return told me that was a good thing because when he had gone home the day before to get his clothes he had packed enough for a week. He was staying until the bounty was off our heads and this Cartel business was finished.

Jay told Rixton to drive me to work in his car and then said he would pick me up tonight in his truck to take me to dinner. I know he was doing that so Joseph wouldn't be able to ride with us. When we arrived at the hotel I told Rixton I had work to do of a confidential nature because of financial conversations due to the closing of the hotel so he would have to guard me from the Conference Room, just as Kim had done the day before. I instructed my new Executive Assistant Holly, who Hank had run an in-depth background check on before I hired her, to make reservations for three people at Trattoria No. 10 at 8:00pm under my name. I also told her to arrange to have a bottle of the Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2013 as well as a Charcuterie Board delivered to the table as soon as we were seated. The Charcuterie Board was not on the menu but the Sous Chef is a friend so when he learns it was a request for me I know he would take care of it. I went into my office and wrote a note to Joseph informing him that Jay and I looked forward to having dinner with him that night. I let him know where and when dinner would be and that I had made arrangements for one of the hotel's SUV's to drive him to dinner. I then had the note delivered to him with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, knowing full well at some point during his stay he was bound to have an overnight guest he could share it with. I ignored the thought of the second cell phone that was sitting in my top left desk drawer while my personal cell phone sat on the top of my desk. I instead tried to focus primarily on work and put all outside influences, thoughts and concerns out of my head. I had less than two weeks until the hotel closed and a lot of work to do. The Executive Chef had committed to staying on as did Laura, my Assistant General Manager. Laura and I were meeting with the Sous Chef, Human Resources Manager, Director of Security, Director of Operations, Front Office Manager, Food & Beverage Manager, Banquet Manager, Chief Engineer and Housekeeping Manager throughout the day to present them with their offer letters. I was hoping that they would all stay on but understood if they decided to move on. It's a scary thing, starting with a new company, not part of an existing brand but I honestly believed we had a strong team and we could make it work.

Other than making sure Rixton got something to eat for lunch I didn't have much interaction with him. At 2:00pm I looked up in annoyance to see Hailey Upton entering my office. I would have to talk to Hank again about her, I thought to myself. Notifying me that she would be covering Ruzek's shift, she proceeded to sit down on the sofa in my office. It gave me a little bit of satisfaction when I somewhat nicely kicked her out of my office, informing her she would be in the conference room for the rest of the afternoon. In between meetings I texted Uncle Paddy, demanding to know who O'Malley is and why Joseph was in Chicago. I didn't get a response from him. I then texted Joseph telling him to be on his best behavior tonight and we would discuss other business the next day. After Laura and I finished our meetings it was almost 6:00pm. We had received signed offer letters from everyone we met with, leaving us both extremely happy. I told her to give me fifteen minutes and then I would meet her in the lounge to have a celebratory drink. I quickly scanned my emails, responding to the ones that required an immediate answer then fixed my makeup before grabbing my white coat, my laptop, black bag and both cell phones. One phone showed a text from Uncle Paddy, finally, that said "Talk in the morning. Watch your back the next couple of days." I deleted the message and hid the phone back inside the zipper pocket of my Michael Kors bag. I was about to text Jay, from my "real" phone, when I noticed I was tagged in an Instagram post by Kim. I opened the app to see the photo montage she had posted that included the picture of Jay and I in front of my fireplace wearing our Patriots jerseys, the picture of her and Ruzek from the New Year's Eve Gala and a screenshot of the invitation to The Hotel 30's opening night party. The caption read: This chick is taking over Chicago! So proud of you girlie. Can't wait for the opening party TheHotelThirty_Chicago! #NotALoneWolf #HottestPatsFansInChicago. I automatically liked the photo and commented: Thanks for the support. Can't wait to see what you wear on 3/1. You're one hot mama especially in that pic! #BestSupportTeam #Squad #MyManIsHotInThatShirt. I then texted Jay letting him know I was done for the day and would be in the lounge with Laura when he arrived.

"Sorry." I said, thirty minutes later, to Laura as I sat down at the table she was occupying in the lounge. "No worries. I ordered you a glass of wine." She said. "Thanks, Michelle. How's your son doing in school? Still loving kindergarten? And how's the princess doing? She done teething yet?" I asked the waitress as she set my drink down. After making small talk for a couple of minutes, she then excused herself to check on another table. "It amazes me that you remember so much about so many people." Laura said. "Speaking of remembering things, I happen to remember you and Connor disappearing from Molly's at the same time last night. Spill. I want details." I said. As we laughed and caught up on a personal level I was unaware that Hailey was texting Jay telling him for someone who has a $100,000.00 bounty on my head I was looking pretty relaxed. Jay forwarded me the text, asking what was going on, and I looked at Laura excusing myself for a moment. I sat down at Hailey's table, glaring at her and not saying a word but called Jay instead, putting him on speaker. When he answered all I said was "I need to keep up appearances. Trust me, I'm not relaxed and I'm always aware of my surroundings. But I have been assured multiple times that with the Intelligence Unit watching over me I should be okay so, you tell me...is there a reason for me to not feel safe and be somewhat relaxed?" Jay responded, "Babe, I'm on my way with Atwater following. I'd love to have a drink with you and Laura before we head to the restaurant. Hailey, Voight said you can leave when we get there. Shouldn't be more than twenty minutes." I ended the call and looked at Hailey. "I don't know what game you think you're going to win but I'm telling you now to back off. Jay and I are together. That's all there is to it." I said, standing and walking back over to Laura. Laura continued to fill me in on her night with Connor and I was delighted to hear he had asked her to dinner this coming Friday night.

Jay arrived, shortly after that with Kevin, and the four of us had a drink together. After Laura left, he interlaced his fingers with mine and asked how my day had been. "It was pretty good, but much better now that you're here. Any updates on anything I need to know about?" I said, keeping a smile on my face. After being told we would talk about it on the way to dinner, I asked Michelle for the check. I signed the check to my Manager's Account and left her a generous cash tip. "That was really nice of you." Kevin said. I shrugged my shoulders, blushing at the compliment as I explained she was a single mother of two kids under the age of five. We walked out front where the Valet held both Jay's truck and Kevin's car. "Thank you, Chris. Please tell your wife I said hello and I'm happy to hear the Doctor didn't put her on bedrest for the rest of her pregnancy. Stop by the kitchen tomorrow after your shift. They'll have a dinner for two ready to go so you don't have to worry about cooking when you get home. Have a good night." I said to the Valet as he opened the door for me. "I will Ms. Brennan. Thank you. Good night. Drive safely." he said directing his last comment to Jay. "Your staff loves you. It's really something, the way you remember all their names and tidbits about their personal lives." he said smiling at me. "Well that might be the reason why all of my Department Heads signed their offer letters today." I replied, smiling back at him. After talking about my day for a few more minutes Jay informed me that Rixton and O'Brien lost El Gato. He managed to evade them. "Fuck!" I said. "Listen, don't worry. We're going to find him and end this once and for all. Let's just get thru this dinner and try to figure out why this guy is in town. " Jay replied.

We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before Joseph arrived. Kevin took a seat at the bar next to Antonio and Ruzek, who I had not expected to see. I looked at Jay, silently questioning him and he replied "Voight thought it would be a good idea to have extra backup." Before I could say another word I saw Joseph enter the restaurant. "He's here." I said to Jay as I stood up. Manners and protocol always get the best of me. "Christine, thank you for the bottle of champagne and the nice note. Such a thoughtful gift." he said in greeting, kissing both my cheeks. "Joseph DiStefano this is Jay Halstead." I said not fully knowing how to introduce them. "Detective Halstead, I've heard a lot about you." Joseph said as he extended his hand to Jay. Shaking his hand, and speaking in a cold tone I hadn't heard since he stood in front of Ramon on December 23rd, he said "Is that so? Well it just happens that I've read a lot about you, Joseph." Oh boy, I thought, this is not off to a good start. As we sat, Joseph replied "Please call me Joe. Only my mother and the lovely Christine here call me Joseph." Before anyone said anything else, the waiter came over with the wine and the Charcuterie. "Ah, excellent choice in wine." Joe said taking a few sips before continuing. "Christine, I meant what I said yesterday. You have developed from a cute teenager into an exquisite woman. You should always wear that color. Emerald green suits you. And the way you wear that dress makes me wish my Father had waited until you were an adult to kidnap you." he said winking at me. I gasped and looked at Jay who immediately stood up and said "That's it. Dinner is over. Christine, wait here. I'm going to get Mr. DiStefano a cab." Joe smiled and said "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again Christine. Your Uncle asked me to give you these." He then stood up, handing me two envelopes before following Jay out the door with Kevin and Antonio following him. I opened the envelopes and was so intent on reading the documents that I never noticed Adam sit down in the seat Jay had vacated. After a few minutes I heard him say "Christine, for the 3rd time, are you okay?" I looked up, shook my head and said "I need Hank. Adam have him meet us at my apartment." I paid the bill for the wine and appetizer and hurried outside to find Jay on his phone. "Yeah Sarge, I'll tell her. We're leaving now." Jay said, ending the call. "Are you okay? Voight said Adam texted saying you need him to meet us at your apartment. He said he was on his way. What was in the envelopes?" Jay said to me, a mixture of anger and concern in his voice. "Jay, I can't tell you. I'm sorry. It's something I need to discuss with Hank first." I said as we got in his truck. "Christine, you can tell me anything, you know that, right?" He asked. "Jay, please." my voice cracking as I tried to hold tears of sadness and anger back. "I need ten minutes alone with Hank and then I'm going to give the two of you a chance to talk."

We didn't say another word as we made the twenty-five minute drive to my apartment. There was an uncomfortable silence in the elevator as we rode the twenty floors up to my apartment. I walked in and went straight for the Jameson. As I poured two glasses I was thinking that the lives of the Intelligence Unit, especially Jay's life, were about to change. I handed Jay a glass when I walked back into the living room, telling him he was going to need it. Before he could question me again, Hank walked it. Taking a look at my face, he said "Halstead, give us the room. I hate to say it but I need you to go wait with the other three outside." "Christine, what is it? "What's in the envelopes?" He asked looking at me, trying to gauge my expression. Which, if my expression reflected how I was feeling on the inside, it would display a look of shock, disbelief, anger, sadness and hatred.

"Read this one first." I instructed handing an envelope over to him. It was the Colombian Medical Examiner's autopsy report on Mariana Gutierrez. "I knew it! She wasn't pregnant! This is good news. Why didn't you tell Jay?" "I thought you might like to." I said as he got up and went to the door telling Jay to come back in. "Wait, Hank there's something else." I started to say but was cut-off. "Halstead you need to read this. Mariana wasn't pregnant when she died. You were being set-up by the Cartel. Jay, they would have killed you that night if you hadn't called me and gotten out of town." Jay stared at the report in disbelief. For almost four months he thought he had lost his unborn child when Mariana died. "She lied to me. I blew my cover and shit, the domino effect that started that night has resulted in us being where we are today. It's completely my fault. I'm sorry." he said and then he put his head in his hands. "I'll give you two a minute." Hank said walking into my kitchen. "Hank, wait. You're going to want to read this. I'm sorry." I said handing him the second envelope. I went back into the living room and knelt on the floor in front of where Jay sat on my couch. "Jay look at me." I said pulling his hands away from his face. "Jay, I'm sorry you blamed yourself for all these months. She set you up. You realize that, right? Babe, none of this is your fault. I'm so sorry this happened to you." "You're sorry!? Christine, this goes to show that all of this is completely my fault. If I hadn't let my guard down I wouldn't have blown my cover and you wouldn't be in this danger. Jesus, you got shot and kidnapped because of me." He replied angrily. I took a deep breath, smiled and said "I understand you think that might be true but you didn't pull the trigger and you didn't knock me unconsciousness and kidnap me, so it's not your fault. Just think, if some of that never happened, if your undercover operation didn't happen we never would have met. And that is something I am grateful for. It's something good that has come out of this insanity. I'd like to think it's better than good because I've fallen in love with you Jay."

Before Jay could say a word, from the kitchen we heard "She's dead! I'm going to kill her myself!" Jay looked at me with questions in his eyes. I sighed and very softly, almost inaudibly, said "Envelope number two was not filled with good news. I was right when I said there was a leak within the Chicago Police Department. Unfortunately, the mole ended up being part of intelligence. Hank is currently reviewing the indisputable evidence. Jay, the mole is Hailey Upton."

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 **A/N: I'll be honest with y'all. I don't' like Upton's character on Chicago PD. She has no personality and I think my dislike for her on TV paved the way for me to write her character in this light. I really hope you're all enjoying the story. As I mentioned before I tend to add new chapters in less than 24 hours so make sure you're following this story to receive alerts. I definitely don't want you to miss out on what's to come.**


	20. Mouse Trap

Hank walked back into the living room with a look of rage and disgust on his face. "Christine, Jay." he said to get our attention. He handed us a piece of paper that asked "When was the last time she was here?" I wrote down that Hailey had been there on Super Bowl and the day before Super Bowl. I also wrote she had been in my office earlier today. Hank then sent a text to Al telling him to get to my place ASAP because he had to sweep for bugs. We sat there for the next thirty minutes, waiting for Al, and making small talk. Hank asked me about the house in Myrtle Beach. I pulled out my phone and showed him and Jay the pictures I had taken after I finished furnishing it. "It's beautiful." Jay said. "The pictures don't really do it justice. Maybe, a few weeks after the hotel opens and I get things up and running, you can convince Hank to give you a weekend off and we can head down there for a few days." I replied, holding my breath in anticipation of his response. I was asking him to go away with me. "Pick a weekend that works for you and then I'll let you use your powers of persuasion to convince Sarge to give me a weekend off." Jay replied. Hank just shook his head at the two of us. A few moments later, Hank's cell phone buzzed and he got up to let Al in. I watched Al scan my entire apartment and he came across two bugs and a camera. I'm going to bury this bitch was all I could think. Knowing full well we couldn't talk in my apartment, I wrote a note to Hank that read "Connor's?" He wrote "Yes. If Doc won't mind." I texted Connor asking if he was home. When he said he was I then asked if the Intelligence Unit could use his apartment for a (hopefully) quick meeting. "Of course." was the reply.

We walked out of my apartment and the four of us along with Antonio, Kevin and Adam got in the elevator and rode it up the two floors to Connor's apartment. "Thanks Connor. I really appreciate this. We shouldn't be here too long." I said when he let us in. "Take your time. I'm heading down to the gym for an hour or so." he replied, walking out the door. "I texted Burgess, Rixton and O'Brien. They should be here within fifteen minutes. I don't want to go into detail before they get here because I'm not repeating myself." Hank said gruffly. "Boss do you want me to text Upton and get her here?" Adam asked. After being told no Adam looked at Antonio and Kevin. They just shrugged their shoulders, unsure as to what was going on. We sat in silence until the other three arrived. As we all sat in Connor's living room, Hank said "Here's the deal. Christine's instinct was right. There is a leak within the Chicago PD. The Cartel has placed someone deep within the ranks. I'm embarrassed and frankly, pissed off, to say that mole is within Intelligence. Now you're all smart enough to figure out, because she's not here, the rat is Upton. Al did a sweep of Christine's apartment and found two bugs in the living room and kitchen along with a video surveillance device in her bedroom. He is going to sweep her office tomorrow morning. It's now up to us to figure out how to deal with this. How we confront her and take her in without anyone getting hurt." "Hank, are you sure about this? Do you have proof to back this up?" Antonio asked. Hank threw the envelope onto Connor's coffee table. Antonio picked it up and in disbelief looked at multiple photos of Hailey with Ramon, Mariana, Little Ricky and El Gato. "How did you get these?" Rixton asked. "The time and date stamp on the one with El Gato is from yesterday afternoon. Our team lost track of him earlier in the day. There's no way this is a coincidence. Anyone have an idea what part of town this is?" No one could put their finger on where the picture had been taken. Hank told Al to run the GPS on Hailey's phone. He was hoping the log would show what towers her cell pinged off at that time.

I stood up and said I was going to head back to my apartment so they could come up with a plan. Jay and I hadn't gotten around to eating dinner so I would need to make something because it was almost 10:00pm and I was starving. As I walked to the door I turned around and looked at the Intelligence Unit, the people I considered friends and family. They looked so blown away by this betrayal and not sure where to go from here. "Look, obviously I'm not a cop but one thing I've learned from my Uncle Paddy over the years is how to catch a rat. You dangle cheese in the mouse trap as bait. If I was you I would consider using me as your cheese...as your bait." I said before I turned to walk out. "Wait! Are you serious about putting yourself out there as bait?" Al asked. "No. She most certainly is not serious." Jay said furiously. "You don't answer for me Halstead. Yes, I am serious Al. This information on Hailey is a gift of sorts from my Uncle. My guess is the Cartel is looking to poach on his territory back in Boston and this is his way of getting rid of the Cartel without getting his hands dirty. It's his M.O. which is one of the reasons why he's never been arrested. He's too smart, too calculated. He also knows that I would do anything to keep Jay safe so I would be surprised if he didn't suspect I would step up to bat. Put together a plan and let me know what I need to do. Hopefully you can take Hailey and the Cartel down together. I don't know what her ties are to the Cartel, but I do know that as a cop she's not going to like the thought of going to jail. She'll most likely flip on them to cut a deal. Hopefully life can get back to normal soon." I said pausing and looking at Jay before continuing. "Jay, I trust you with my life. I know you will keep me safe. And I know that this Unit here, your family, will keep both of us safe. Just do what you always do, what all of you always do, and I know this will be over in no time. Remember, I'm stronger than I look and I'm going to bury that bitch for everything she's done to all of us." I finished before walking out and closing the door behind me.

I went back down to my apartment and grabbed the cell phone O'Malley had given me. I sent a text to Uncle Paddy saying, "Thank you. Intelligence is putting a plan together now. I figured out what you're up to. Cartel is on your doorstep in Boston, aren't they? You just killed two birds with one stone. They'll take down the Cartel without you getting your hands dirty and you got me to join the family business. Nice job old man. I don't like being played tho so remember that. And remember what goes around comes around. Karma is a bitch." I put the phone back in the hiding spot inside my bag and then grabbed a container of homemade kitchen sink soup out of the freezer and put it in the microwave to defrost. I then grabbed the rotisserie chicken I had bought on Saturday and diced it up. Grabbing a bag of lettuce, grated parmesan cheese and croutons I made a chicken caesar salad. The soup defrosted and as I was heating it on the stove and cutting up french bread, Jay came back in. He slipped a piece of paper in front of me saying "Act natural. No real conversations outside of shower, gym or designated spot in the hotel." I nodded letting him know I understood. "Sorry I was gone so long. Just needed to clear my head after learning what I did about Mariana. So Kev, Ruzek and I went and grabbed a drink around the corner." he said trying to create a reasonable explanation for listening ears as to why my apartment went silent. "No worries. It's been a crazy night all around. It's late and since we didn't eat dinner earlier I thought something light would be good. Homemade soup and chicken caesar salad okay with you?" I asked. Jay and I sat in the living room, eating dinner and watching rerun episodes of NCIS on USA. We didn't say a word the entire time. I quickly cleaned our plates when we were done and put the leftovers in the fridge. "Hey, Jay? Not sure what your day is like tomorrow but I won't be home before 10:00pm so if you get hungry there's plenty of leftovers in the fridge. I'm heading to bed. It's been a long day and my alarm is going off at 5:00am. Goodnight." I said, leaning over the couch and kissing him. "I'll be there in a bit. Christine, thank you for everything you said. I love you. I hope you know that." he replied. I smiled and said "I know. I'm here whenever you want to talk about it." I couldn't help but hope that would be before he found out about my betrayal.

The next morning started off like any other day. An hour down at the gym and then I cooked breakfast for Jay and I before getting ready for work. By 7:30am I was dressed in a fuchsia colored v-neck wool dress with long sleeves that flared out at the wrists and came to just above my knees. I zipped up my black leather knee high boots with a four inch heel. I pulled my hair back in a french twist and left a few tendrils loose around my face. "Good morning Rix...Oh! Hailey, what are you doing here?" I asked, thinking what the fuck is going on here. Before she could answer Jay walked in from the kitchen and said, "You look gorgeous, babe. Rixton got called away this morning to wrap up an old case with the Gang Unit so Voight sent Hailey over. She's going to head to the hotel with you. Adam will be there by 2:00pm. I'll text you later to see if you're free for lunch. I love you." he said, kissing me before heading into my bedroom. I looked at Hailey, not caring if this was part of Hank's plan or not and said, "Hear that? He loves me even when we're not in bed. Now you can follow me to the hotel. There's no need for you to ride in my car with me." I got in my car and as I pulled out of the garage I used the hands free option to call Hank. "Don't you think it would have been a good idea to give me the heads up that Hailey would be with me today?" I asked when he answered. "I needed you to be surprised so she wouldn't suspect anything. Al swept your office this morning as well as the conference room. Everything came up clean. There's a manila envelope on your desk. It details the plan for today. We're ending this today. Just go about your day and remember if you can't see us it doesn't mean we're not close by. Just keep a level head. I'll be by for dinner at 6:00pm if that works for you." he said. "Let me guess, burger and fries in my office, right?" I asked.

Dinner with Hank was going to put a wrench into my plans. I needed to be at 51 by 3:00pm to meet with Hermann, Gabby and Otis about the Molly's franchise. I also needed to meet with Joseph at some point to see what the real deal is with him being in town and I needed to contact O'Malley to see what his role is in all of this. I got a hold of O'Malley and told him to meet me at 10:00am at the hotel in Suite 1003. I told Hailey I had a meeting, which for financial reasons she would not be attending, so she could remain in the Conference Room. I opened the door when O'Malley arrived. "Look, I have maybe ten minutes tops before someone comes looking for me. I need to know why you called me Boss on Sunday. What's your role in this madness?" I asked looking up at the 6'5 giant with black hair and dark eyes. "I'm your personal bodyguard once the hotel reopens on March 1st. That's how you'll introduce me to everyone. All hotel owners have them so you should be no different. In all reality, I'm not only your bodyguard, but I'm your top lieutenant. Also, it's time for you to look for a new place to live. We need to get you into a house. Someplace with a gate. Paddy will be giving you a list to choose from. You may be the new Irish Queen of Chicago but don't forget he is the true boss. You'll choose from one of the five and we can have you moved in by April 1st. Let me know if you need anything. I don't have as much access to you as needed because of all the cops but that will end soon. I'll let you get back to work now." he said. I watched him walk out the door and wondered how it was that in less than two months I have lost control of my live. And the Irish Queen of Chicago!? They were going to have to come up with a new name because that one wasn't going to cut it. I didn't want anyone to know it was a female running the city. I went back downstairs and as I walked thru the lobby the Front Office Manager handed me an envelope. "From Mr. DiStefano. He left it for you when he checked out." Jayson told me. Jesus, what now I wondered as I opened it.

 _Christine-_

 _I'm sorry dinner didn't go as you had probably planned, but it went exactly as I had planned. My business in Chicago is almost complete but have no fear I will be seeing you again very soon. You have capture my heart with your beauty and your wish is now my command._

 _Till Next Time-_

 _Joseph_

What the fuck? He crosses a line between cheesy and creepy. Well, Hailey needs something to do so let her try to fuck up my life with this I thought as I photocopied the note. I walked into the Conference Room and handed her the copy. "I'm sure Hank would want to know about this now and not when I see him for dinner tonight. Figure you can handle this." I said, turning on my heel and walking out of the Conference Room. I then took a screenshot of it on my phone and texted it to Jay. I told him I gave a copy to Hailey and told her to notify Voight. He responded back a short time later that he was following up on a lead and couldn't do lunch but would be joining Hank and I for dinner at 6:00pm.

Laura and I ate lunch in my office to review our proposal one more time before heading down to 51. Just before 3:00pm Laura, Adam and I pulled into the lot at 51. "What!? No food this time? What kind of visit is this?" Kelly asked from his seat at the head of Squad's table. "A professional one." I said walking over to give him a hug. "They're inside waiting for you. Good luck." he said. An hour later we walked out of the meeting with a signed franchise agreement for Molly's at The Hotel 30 – Chicago and they were willing to franchise a Molly's in each new hotel I opened! "Congrats! How about dinner tonight to celebrate?" Kelly asked. "Wish I could but I'm eating in the office tonight. I'm taking a half day on Friday. What's your schedule like? What about a late lunch and then drinks somewhere?" I said. "It's a night shift for me. Tell you what. I'll text you later and we'll figure out a night next week." he replied. "That's not going to make Halstead happy." Ruzek said from the back seat of my car as we were stopped at a red light on the way back to the hotel. "Excuse me?" I asked. "There's always been a bit of animosity between them. Kelly and Erin hooked up back in the day. As a result he and Halstead have never been the best of friends." Ruzek replied. I glanced at Laura, who sat in the passenger seat with an amused look on her face. I looked up in the rearview mirror to meet Adams eyes and I noticed a black truck coming up behind us that wasn't slowing down. "Hold on!" I yelled as the truck made impact.

I must have lost consciousness for a minute but when I cam to a man in a black ski mask was trying to pry my door open. "Nooo! Adam, wake up! Help me!" I screamed as my assailant got the door opened and pulled me into a black SUV. "I told you to knock her out." a familiar sounding voice said. "I didn't want to hit her. She's too pretty." the man next to me said as he unsteadily pointed a gun in my direction. "Might as well lose the mask Hailey. I recognize your voice. And you might want to tell the meth-head sitting next to me to either shoot me or point the gun in another direction." I said. Furious that I recognized her voice, Hailey ripped her mask off and threw it in the passenger seat. "Jose, keep the gun on her. One wrong move and you can shoot her in the left leg where she was shot the last time." Hailey told him as we drove to a deserted warehouse on the other side of the river. "This is the best you can do? Seriously Hailey, do you know what the difference is between the Colombian Cartel and the Irish Mob? The Colombians have no imagination. All your ideas come from movies. There are other examples to follow other than Scarface and Blow. At least the Irish have imagination. Paddy's guys never would have brought a hostage to a place like this. It's way too obvious." I said taunting her. "Shut up bitch and get out of the car. There's someone who has been wanting to meet you." she said as she dragged me out of the car. "I hope whoever it is will be buying me a new car since you destroyed mine." I said. "Don't worry. Where you're going you won't need a car." she said, her fingers digging into my arm. Another black SUV pulled to a stop in front of us and four men got out. This is too easy, I thought to myself. Other than Hailey totaling my car things were going according to Al and Hank's plan. "Christine Brenna, let me introduce you to my Father, Luis Gutierrez, also known as El Gato." she said. Okay that was news to me. Nowhere in Paddy's report did it mention she was El Gato's daughter. "I would say it's a pleasure to meet you but that would be a lie. You've become a royal pain in my ass these past six and a half weeks." I said. "But I need to thank you because if it wasn't for your fucked up family I never would have met Jay. So, for that I thank you." "You're not afraid of me?" he asked in disbelief. "I most certainly am not. Do you have any idea who my family is? Who my boyfriend is? Do you not know that one of the most powerful men in the city has become a surrogate father to me? If you're going to kill me than kill me already. Otherwise, I'm taking my life back today." I said. "My son, Ramon was right. You are feisty and beautiful. But not too smart. Did you really think we wouldn't have once again disabled any tracker on you or your phone? We are all alone here. Now Hailey has to get back to work and help them search for you, but you will not be going back to work today. You and I are going to spend some time getting to know each other." El Gato told me as one of his goons lead me over to the waiting SUV. Before they could shove me in the back of the car, I had one thing left to say. "Hey Hailey! Voight and the rest of the Unit knows you're the rat. They found the bugs and video surveillance you planted in my apartment. I would tell you to run but it's a little too late. You see, Detective Upton, the tracker isn't on my phone. It's on yours." I said smiling as I watched multiple cop cars race in our direction.

I took great pleasure in watching the color drain from Hailey's face. I was so intent on watching her reaction that I momentarily forgot about El Gato until he was holding a gun to my head and Hank was standing in front of me. "Let me go or I will kill her." he shouted. "Seriously, no imagination. You need to come up with a better line. Like I told Hailey, find some new movies to watch or something. Better yet, give my Uncle Paddy a call. Pretty sure he can make some suggestions." I said calmly. "Shut up!" El Gato screamed. "Fuck you asshole. I'm tired of being held hostage by your family. Kill me now or put down the gun. Either way they'll capture you and you'll die either next to me today or later on in jail. Hank, I'm rather fond of this dress and winter coat so please ask Jay to keep the blood splatter to a minimum." I said as El Gato dropped his gun and yelled "Wait! Don't shoot!" As Al walked over to cuff him I turned and quietly said. "Let me properly introduce myself to you. I am Christine Brennan, the niece of Paddy McGuire, who is the head of the Irish Mob in South Boston. I am the new Irish Queen of Chicago (thinking to myself I really hate that title but I needed to prove a point). I now run this city. So what that means is you take the bounty of Jay's head right now or your daughter Hailey will be dead before she's put in the back of that cop car over there. Are you ready to accept responsibility for the death of another daughter? If I was you I would beg Detective Olinsky to let you make that call."

I walked away without looking back. I walked over to Hank to ask about Laura and Ruzek. They were being check out at Med but they were going to be fine. I then got lectured by Hank for antagonizing El Gato that much. "Hey." I heard from being me. "About time you made it down from your sniper's perch, Halstead." I said smiling at him. He didn't say another word but kissed me instead. The kiss was so deep and so intense I forget we weren't alone until I heard coughing behind me. "It's over. No more bounty on your head. You're safe." I said to him. "We're safe." he replied. "Uh, Jay. You're safe. Christine still has a bounty and it was just raised to $200,000.00." Antonio said. "How is that possible? Why am I free and she isn't?" Jay asked in disbelief. "I made a trade. I wouldn't give the okay for Hailey to be killed if he took the bounty off your head." I said, feeling my stomach tie in knots as I was about to tell him the truth. "How?" he asked, not understanding. "She was bluffing. She told him Paddy had someone here and would take out Hailey on her signal. She's quick on her feet." Al said after placing El Gato in the back of the police car. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find a way to get the bounty off her head. Quite the game of cat and mouse. Glad the good guys won." Hank said, as he gave me a look. A look that said he and Al knew the truth.

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 **A/N: Sadly, this won't be the last we see of Hailey and El Gato. They're going to continue to give Christine problems, possibly forcing her to do something that there will be no coming back from. Something she's not ready for. So, not only will she be dealing with that, she also has to deal with Hank and Al learning of the deal she made with her Uncle Paddy in order to keep Jay safe. There's a lot to come over the next few chapters. Hope you all enjoy what's to come.**


	21. Will Life Ever Be Normal Again?

Three days later it was approaching 12:00pm on Friday afternoon and I was trying to wrap up my day. I was taking a half day because I had a doctor's appointment at 1:00pm. I had also asked Gabby to meet me for a late lunch before she tended bar that night at Molly's. I had barely slept for the past three nights. There was no doubt in my mind that Al and Hank knew my secret. I was just waiting for Hank to confront me or even worse, tell Jay. Jay still couldn't figure out why there was still a hit on me with a bounty of $200,000.00. What was confusing him even more was the fact that Hank had pulled my babysitters. I was completely on my own. I think the only thing that was saving me up to this point is the fact Jay was not permitted to interrogate El Gato or Hailey. Because Hailey had been his partner, and Jay had been one of the targets of the Cartel, he was not allowed to talk to either one of them. Something about compromising the investigation he had told me on Tuesday night. He was still staying at my apartment each night. I'm not sure if he was still staying there because he was trying to protect me or because he wanted to be there. All I know is I didn't want him to leave. I was in a constant state of panic that worsened each morning when I said good-bye to him. I would leave him in my apartment, cleaning up the breakfast mess, and would think that was going to be the last time I saw him or the last time he would speak to me. I don't know how much longer I can continue this way. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't notice Hank in my doorway. He, and the rest of the Intelligence Unit, had become such a fixture around the hotel that Holly had been told she didn't need to buzz me to let me know when they were headed to my office. "Christine..." he said startling me and causing me to jump. I quickly stood up causing me to become lightheaded and as a result the room went dark. When I came to I was no longer in my office.

I was back in the E.D. at Chicago Med. "What happened?" I asked April. "I don't really know. All I know is Sargent Voight said you stood up when he came into your office and the next thing he knew you were passed out on the floor. Ethan will be in shortly to go over your results. They sent you for a CT Scan and took some blood." April told me. "April, I know what's wrong with me. Two days ago on Wednesday, when I was getting ready for work, I ended up on the bathroom floor. I got lightheaded and definitely did some cheek-to-floor dancing. I could barely pull myself up off the bathroom floor but somehow managed to crawl over to the toilet when I knew I was going to be sick. I didn't cook anything that would cause me to have food poisoning and only drank ginger-ale the night before so I wasn't hungover. Then I started thinking…when was the last time I had my period. I realized at that point that I hadn't had my period since the middle of December. I hadn't paid attention due to everything that's been going on. There was a couple of times when Jay and I forgot to use a condom, hello middle of the night sex or sometimes drunk sex, but I didn't believe I could seriously be pregnant. That was until I bought a test at the store and took it at the hotel that afternoon. Two pink lines showed up. I'm pretty sure I got pregnant the first night Jay and I had sex. That would put me at seven weeks. I am supposed to be at my OB/GYN's office right now." I told her. "Well, you're right. Congratulations, you're pregnant." Ethan said. I hadn't noticed him come into the room. "I'm a little concerned because, according to your records, you've lost quite a bit of weight over the past few weeks. I heard about what you went through and I'm sure the stress had a lot to do with it. You need to really focus on taking care of yourself. I can reschedule your appointment with your OB/GYN's office for an hour from now. Since her office is at Med, it would be really convenient. That way you'll be able to get a prescription for pre-natal vitamins from her. I'm also going to suggest that she do an Ultrasound today just to make sure everything is as it should be. Or, if you want, I can do the Ultrasound right now."

After asking Ethan to do the Ultrasound there, I couldn't help but wonder if Hank was still around somewhere. I wasn't ready for Jay to find out I was pregnant. He still hadn't recovered from finding out that Mariana had never been pregnant. I thought back to the words he told me about breaking his cover...he was not going to let his child be raised around the Cartel. I didn't want to think about how he was going to feel when he learned the Mother of his child was an Irish Mob Boss. I needed to figure a way out of this situation. I looked at the monitor attached to the Ultrasound machine and wasn't sure what I was looking at. "Well, I'm happy to say everything looks just as it should. At this stage there's no reason to think that your babies won't be born healthy." Ethan said. "I'm sorry, what did you just say? Babies? There's more than one in there?" I asked in shock. "Yes, Christine. You're having twins." he replied pointing to the fetuses on the monitor. After saying they'd give me a moment to clean up, Ethan and April went to reschedule my doctor's appointment for that afternoon. I texted Gabby letting her know something had come up and I would need to reschedule lunch. I went straight to my Doctor's appointment and she did another Ultrasound and I heard the babies heartbeats. I think that's what made everything real...real and scary. I was told I was due on September 21st but, was told most people who have twins don't carry fullterm. I could most likely anticipate giving birth anywhere from August 10th on.

I got in the elevator and headed down to the hospital's main entrance. I had to order an Uber to pick me up since I was still without a car. Guess I needed to go car shopping after I got my prescription filled at the pharmacy. I think I walked around in a daze most of the afternoon. I bought another SUV, but this time I selected a red Range Rover Sport with black interior. I drove the car off the lot and headed to the grocery store. I knew Jay might be at work a little later than normal, but I was going to cook him an amazing dinner. I was planning on telling him the truth about everything at dinner. As I pulled into the parking lot of Mariano's my cell phone rang. It was Hank. Oh, shit. "Hey." I said as I answered the phone. "Where are you? I went back to Med and was told that they let you go. Are you okay?" he asked, sounding concerned. "I'm pulling into Mariano's now. I need to pick up some stuff for dinner tonight." I replied. "Wait there for me. Don't go in. I need to talk to you." he replied ending the call before I could tell him I was in a new car. I stood outside the car and fifteen minutes later Hank's Escalade pulled to a stop in front of me. "Get in." he said. "We need to talk, Christine. I needed a few days to figure out how to handle this and what to say to you. I know what you did and why you did it, but is that really the life you want to be involved in? I need to know, so I can get you out of it. Tell me honestly." "No, it's not at all. I want to focus on my career in the hotel industry and building a future with Jay. I don't want any part of my Uncle's business, but I don't have a choice anymore. I needed to do it to ensure Jay's safety. I hope you understand. I'm not sure Jay will when I tell him tonight. Hank, I'm pregnant. I took a test on Wednesday and it was confirmed today at Chicago Med. I'm so afraid of what he's going to do when I tell him. The past month and a half has been completely chaotic and insane. I just want some sort of normalcy." I replied. "What if I can get you out of it? Or what if we keep it from Halstead and use it to our advantage? We could take down the Irish Mob and the Italian Mafia. That would prevent a shit ton of drugs from coming into Chicago. I think that's the best option. Don't tell Halstead yet. Give me the weekend. I'll come see you on Monday and we can go from there." Hank said. I looked at him like he was insane but if this could somehow save my relationship with Jay then I was willing to do it. "Okay." I said.

I got back in my car and decided not to go into the grocery store. I just wanted to go home and hide from the world. I decided to hold off on telling Jay I was pregnant until after Hank and I spoke on Monday. The weekend passed rather quickly. Jay was still staying at my apartment. I started to notice more and more things of his mixed into my space. I spent fourteen hours at the hotel on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful and I just had one more week to get thru before the closing party and then the hotel would be closed the following morning. We were starting construction on the Molly's location that day. It was going to be a quick turnaround. I had twelve days from the time we closed until the time we opened as The Hotel 30 – Chicago. I was in the office bright and early on Monday morning. After lunch I looked up to see Hank in my doorway, once again. "Don't pass out on me this time." He said. We sat on the sofa in my office and he laid out a very detailed plan. A plan that required me to end things with Jay. Kenny Rixton had moved from the Gang Unit to Intelligence and I would be his Criminal Informant. I would pass any and all information onto Rixton. He would then relay it to Hank who would use the information to take down the Irish Mob and the Italian Mafia. "I'm fine with all of it except for the part that requires me to break up with Jay. Hank, he's the Father of my babies. How do you expect me to end it with him?" I asked. "I know it's going to be hard, but it's either that or you tell him what you did and knowing you made that sacrifice for him might actually just end up destroying him. There's really no other way." Hank replied. I didn't agree. There had to be another way. I told Hank I was telling Jay everything that night and I would just hope he would accept what I did, especially when he finds out I'm pregnant.

I got home at a decent hour that night and decided to cook dinner. I had stopped at the grocery store on the way home and got everything I needed for a roast beef dinner. To say Jay was surprised when he got home was an understatement. I had the dining room table set with my china and good flatware that he had used when he cooked me breakfast on the morning of our "first" date. He was shocked to see the homemade apple pie cooling on the counter and the platters that were on the table. I prepared not only the roast, but made oven roasted potatoes, asparagus and gravy to go with it. There were two envelopes at Jay's seat. He looked at the envelopes and asked "What's going on? Everything looks and smells amazing but it's not like you to cook a big meal on a Monday night. What's with the envelopes?" As we sat at the table I took a deep breath and began the toughest conversation of my life. I started with the deal I had made to ensure his safety. I then told him about Hank's plan. As I spoke I could see the tick in his cheek. I hadn't expected the conversation to be easy or for him to take it well, but Jay hadn't yelled at me since I was in the hospital on December 23rd, until that night. "What the fuck, Christine!? What were you thinking? You just couldn't let us handle it, could you? You need to control everything, and as a result you have ruined your life...your career...and you ruined us. I had a hard enough time accepting the fact of who your Uncle is and what he does for a living and now you have proven you are the same. How am I supposed to continue a relationship with you when I'm going to wonder constantly if I'm going to be arresting you in the near future? You're a criminal...you're no better than your Uncle or your so-called cousins. How could you do this? How could you do this to us?" Jay yelled. "Jay please, think about the reason why I did it. I did it for you...for us...for my career. I needed to in order to keep you safe and to help take down the Colombians. It was the only option. If it hadn't been for my Uncle and Joseph you never would have known that Hailey was the rat. I did it because I love you." I said. "I can't deal with this now. I need to think. I gotta go." he said, putting his leather jacket on and walking towards the door. "Jay, wait. Don't go. There's more I need to tell you." I pleaded with him. In a cold bitter voice he said "I don't think I can handle anymore." before he walked out the door.

I sat down at the table, knowing I had to eat, but not feeling like I could. I ended up dumping the food I made for dinner and heated up some soup instead. As I cleaned up the dining room I noticed the two envelopes that had remained untouched. I opened the envelopes and looked at pictures from the Ultrasound. I had labeled the pictures, Baby Halstead #1 and Baby Halstead #2. I put my hand on my stomach and spoke to my unborn children, "I messed up but I'm going to find a way to make it right. By the time teh two of you make your debut in this world you are going to have both your parents in your lives. I promise you my babies. I will make it right. I love you both so much already." As I said the words, I couldn't help but wonder will life ever be normal again.


	22. Choices

Before I knew it March 1st arrived and it was the opening night of The Hotel 30 – Chicago. I don't know how we managed to do it but in twelve days we removed all traces of the Beacon Hotel and completed construction on Molly's. That afternoon I was in Suite 1003 having my hair and makeup done. I wasn't too talkative so the makeup artist and Nicole, my hair stylist, left me to my thoughts. Thoughts that were mostly unhappy. I had been unhappy for the past two and a half weeks. Since the last night I saw Jay. He walked out of my apartment that night and didn't return until the next day when I was at work. I got home from work that Tuesday night and noticed all of his personal belongings were gone. Not only that but he left the key I had given him on the kitchen counter. None of my text messages or phone calls had been returned. I knew the majority of the Intelligence Unit would be attending tonight's event and although it was very doubtful I hoped that Jay would attend as well. Once my makeup was done and my hair was styled in soft waves it was time to get dressed. My gown was a floor length black backless dress with silver threading thru it and a high slit up the right leg. I wore the diamond and black onyx choker and earring set Dad had given me for my 25th birthday. Taking a deep breath I walked down to the hotel's lobby where my team waited for me. "I want to thank you all for your hard work. What we have accomplished in the past twelve days is nothing short of unbelievable. I couldn't imagine being on this crazy and exciting journey with any other team. For anyone who asks about the hotel name you can let them know that I turned thirty in December and took ownership of the hotel in January. Let them know that the thirty is representative of the next thirty years and all we are going to accomplish. I have no doubt that we're going to run circles around the competition. Now, let's go let the crowd in and have a good time!" I said heading towards the front doors. Where the New Year's Eve Gala had been a formal sit down event, this one was still black tie but we would be allowing guests to wander through the hotel at their leisure. Each area of the hotel that was open for the party would offer different selections for food, drinks and live music. The door that connected the hotel to Molly's was open and I was so excited for everyone to see it.

With Laura by my side, we went outside and cut the big red ribbon and greeted guests as they entered the hotel. I made my way thru the hotel and on my third pass through Molly's I saw the Intelligence Unit along with my friends from 51 and Chicago Med. "This place is amazing! You've done such a great job." Kelly said, coming up to me and giving me a hug. "Thank you." I said, smiling as my gaze searched the bar for Jay. "He's not here. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened but I do know that he went out of town for a few days. I'm not sure where he went but I do know that he told Kim he needed to get away." Kelly said. "Oh. Thanks for telling me. Go get yourself a drink and I'll catch up with you later." I replied. "Great job kid. This place looks really good. And the hotel looks phenomenal. Quite a feat to do it all in twelve days. How are you feeling? You're eating and getting some rest, right?" Hank asked coming up behind me. I quickly glanced around, hoping no one overheard what he said. "Don't worry, no one heard me. People are going to start noticing though. You're at almost ten weeks. From what I remember when Camille was pregnant she started showing at twelve weeks. She was pregnant with twins, but one of them didn't make it. You only have two more weeks before people are going to figure it out. Not only that but you don't have your typical glass of wine or Jameson in your hand. That's going to be a dead give-a-way." he told me. "Thanks. So, I was hoping in regards to that other situation we could chat tomorrow at some point. Maybe over a burger and fries in my office for dinner at 6:30pm?" I said, changing the subject. After saying he would see me then, I made my way thru the rest of the Intelligence Unit. I knew that they knew Jay and I were no longer together. It was in their eyes and in their greetings. Obviously Kim, being one of my closest friends knew that Jay had left but I never told her the details of why. I also hadn't told her, Gabby, Stella or Sylvie that I was pregnant. I owed it to Jay, if I could find him, to tell him first.

The night flew by and the next evening Hank and I had dinner. I told him that Uncle Paddy had been in contact and was now starting the transition of Chicago's business from Finn O'Doyle over to me. I told him Joseph DiStefano was coming back to Chicago to help with the transition. Apparently, there was a deal between Paddy and the DiStefano family. We would be splitting Chicago evenly. I also told him about my "bodyguard" O'Malley and the fact that I had to buy a house based on Uncle Paddy's orders. I was nervous about what was to come. I was in over my head and other than Hank I had no one in my corner. I was going to betray my Uncle Paddy and I knew there was going to be hell to pay. There was no other option tho. I needed to do it to get my life back. "Hank, we need to talk about Jay. I need a few minutes of his time to tell him about the babies. I noticed my stomach looked a little curved this morning. I can only say I'm bloated for so long. When is he coming back to town?" I said. He told me Jay had put in for a week's vacation and wouldn't be back until the following Monday. He would let me know when he was back and I could talk to him at the District.

I spent the next week working out some minor kinks at the hotel and finalizing a bid to purchase a hotel in Myrtle Beach. I went house hunting over the weekend and found a 7,000 square foot home in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago. It has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It was beautiful and on Uncle Paddy's list so that should make him happy. I put an offer on the house and was told that I would most likely hear if my offer was accepted within the week. O'Malley started his role as my bodyguard and was everywhere. I could barely go to the Ladies Room without him following me. That was going to cause problems. On Sunday night I received a text from Hank. Jay was back and would be at work the next morning. I didn't want to have this conversation with him at the District so at 10:00pm I decided to take a drive to Jay's apartment. I didn't bother knocking on the door. Instead I slipped the envelope with the Ultrasound photos and a note under his door. I stood there waiting for him to open the door. I saw his truck parked out front so he must be home. After standing there for twenty minutes I felt like an idiot so I turned and headed back outside to my car. O'Malley followed me home. "Boss, are you going to be in for the night? You know Paddy isn't going to like hearing that you went to the Detective's place tonight." he said. "Jesus, O'Malley. Paddy doesn't need to know every little thing about my life. And you work for me, so I'm telling you right now, you're going to want to think about what you do and do not tell my Uncle. You can go home. I'm not going anywhere else. I'm actually heading to bed. I'll see you in the morning." I told him.

I woke up the next morning to find another foot of snow had covered the city. I put on a fitted pair of black pants which seemed to be a little snug, a deep purple silk v-neck shirt and a black suit jacket. I slipped into my black suede wedge booties and headed out to the living room. I stopped suddenly when I noticed Jay sitting on my couch. "Hi. How are you? How did you get in?" I asked. He said he borrowed Hank's key. He had gone to Hank's house the night before after I slipped the envelopes under his door. "Jay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you feel so betrayed and hurt. That was never my intent." I said but he cut me off. "Christine, I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about the fact that you're pregnant with my children. I told you that when I thought Mariana was pregnant there would have been no way I would let a child of mine be raised around the Cartel. This situation is going to be even worse knowing what I do about you. You have a choice to make. You tell Voight you can't do this and you find a way to convince your Uncle that you are not taking over the family business. I'll let you keep custody of the kids but if you don't do it, I'll have you arrested and you'll never see them after they're born." "Jay, you can't be serious. These are our children. Children that I hoped we would raise together. You know this shit with my family business isn't going to last forever. It's just a matter of getting Hank whatever info he needs and then I'm out. Paddy will be in jail and the Irish Mob will no longer exist. I'll be able to go back to being a hotel owner and a good Mother to our children. Please, Jay, think about what you're saying. Don't do this. Please don't do this." I pleaded with him. "You have till Friday to figure out what you're going to do. I'll see you then." he said as he walked out of my apartment. "No! You don't get to do that. We're going to have this out right here and now. You don't get to issue ultimatums and then just leave. Yes, I know I have a choice to make but I've made that choice and you need to be somewhat flexible in your demands. You haven't even asked me when I'm due or how I'm feeling. You haven't asked one single thing about my pregnancy or the twins so let me tell you something. You are fucking insane if you think that I would give up custody to a person who doesn't even care enough to ask about his children. Don't you dare threaten me Jay. Not when every choice I have made was because I love you. It was to protect you and keep you safe. Don't you dare make me out to be the bad guy in all of this. There's no point in coming to see me on Friday because my choice and my plans aren't going to change. Now, until you can act rationally and actually talk WITH me and not AT me, you can leave." I said. I turned and walked back into my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I sat down on the bed and let the tears flow.

It has now been another month since I last saw Jay. He hasn't contacted me since that Monday morning. I had made the pregnancy announcement after I saw Jay last. Our friends were very supportive and I was thankful I had them in my life, especially since I had moved into my new house in the Gold Coast neighborhood the week before. I was trying to get settled and used to living in such a large home. Spring was starting to arrive in Chicago and I was getting ready to head to Myrtle Beach the following weekend. I would be meeting my Dad down there to show him the house and to sign the paperwork for the hotel I had purchased in Myrtle Beach. I was planning on sticking with my original plan of opening the hotel on Memorial Day weekend. It would be known as The Hotel 30 – Myrtle Beach and the bar would be an indoor / outdoor bar known as Molly's On The Beach. I was now fifteen weeks pregnant and at today's doctor's appointment I would find out if I was having boys, girls or one of each. I left work at 2:00pm and headed to my doctor's office at Chicago Med. Hank was there to meet me. As usual he ignored O'Malley and gave me a hug. "Does he know where you are?" I asked him. "Yeah, I told him. I also told him to get his head out of his ass and show up. This is getting old. I need to be honest with you. The team knows about our arrangement and they all support you. They've chosen sides and they're on your side. Dawson told him to get his shit together and even if he chooses not to get back together with you he needs to step up and be a Father. Come on, let's go see what my pseudo grandchildren are up to." Hank said. My OB/GYN was quiet and thoughtful as she did the Ultrasound. "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. "They don't seem to be growing as much as I had hoped they would. They are a little on the smaller size. Your blood pressure is a little high as well. That's most likely due to stress. I'm not overly concerned but I would like to see you take it easy. I don't want to have to put you on bedrest for the remainder of your pregnancy. Now, if you're ready to know what you're having I can tell you." she said. I was told I was having one of each, a boy and a girl. Holy crap! I looked at Hank with a smile on my face. "You can tell him when you go back to the District. I'm over dealing with him." I said. "Actually, since I'm here why don't you tell me now?" Jay asked from the doorway.

* * *

 **A/N: Just when it looks like there might be a chance for Christine and Jay to have some sort of future with the twins, El Gato and Hailey Upton are coming back in the next chapter. Christine will do whatever it takes to protect her unborn children and the man she loves.**


	23. The Irish Queen

**FLASHBACK:**

"And why should I tell you anything Jay? You've known for over a month that I'm pregnant and you haven't showed any interest before now. Is it because your Unit, the people who are your family, have realized what an asshole you've become? Today has been a good day up until now. I'm not going to let you ruin it for me. So, in keeping with tradition Hank and I are heading to get a late lunch. It's something we do together on Friday's. But you would have known that if you had been to one single doctor's appointment with me. Think what you want about me but I'm still the same woman you said you fell in love with. You're the one who has changed Jay Halstead. You're the one who is letting his demons take control of him and his life. Maybe, once you figure your shit out and are ready to accept why I did what I did then and only then we can talk. Until then I don't want to see you." I said. Hank and Jay looked at me in shock, well more so Jay did. I think Hank was a little proud of me for finally standing up to Jay and putting him in his place. I walked out of the exam room, into the waiting room, where O'Malley was playing Words With Friends on his phone. "How does a lieutenant for the Irish Mob actually have friends to play that game with? Or are you playing with strangers who don't know you?" I asked quietly as I took the seat next to him. "Why are you sitting down? Is everything okay with the babies? Where's Voight?" the Irish giant asked, concern written across his face. "Some bodyguard you are. Did you not notice Halstead walk right past you and into the exam room? He and Hank needed a few minutes alone to recover from the tongue lashing I gave Jay." I replied. "We're going to Piccolo Sogno for lunch today. I'll get you a pizza on the way out. You can eat it back at the house later."

Thirty minutes later, Hank and I were enjoying lunch at one of my favorite Italian restaurants. After I ordered the lasagna and Hank the Saltimbocca I said, "Pretty soon it will be warm enough to eat on the patio. Good thing Italian food seems to agree with me. It seems to be either that or soup is all I want to eat lately. I'm heading to Myrtle Beach a week from today so sadly we won't be having lunch next Friday. My Dad is flying down straight from Boston and I'm flying out of O'Hare at 9:00am. I'll be back on Monday morning. I'll head straight to the hotel from the airport. We can either do dinner that night or we can wait till the next Friday, after my doctor's appointment to have lunch. Whatever you want to do I'll make time in my schedule." "You know you're avoiding the subject. Halstead was pretty blown away by what you said. I think you got your point across. It was a little mean that you didn't tell him that you have a boy and a girl cooking right now. I would have given him that much at least." Hank replied. "Hank, I love you dearly and am so thankful for everything you've done, but I don't want to talk about Jay. Not yet...maybe not ever. I've accepted the fact that I'm going to be a single mother with a full time career. I'll figure a way to do it on my own. I don't need Jay Halstead or any of the shit that comes along with him." I said. "I love you too but I know you're lying. You need Jay and all the shit that comes with him because you're still in love with him. You wouldn't be hurting this bad otherwise. I'm not going to push it kid. Now, let's talk a little business..." Hank replied.

A little business. Jesus, that's what got me into this mess in the first place. I was going to seriously hurt someone. After lunch with Hank, I ordered a pizza to-go for O'Malley and then walked up to his car to hand it to him. That's when I noticed he was unconscious in the driver's seat. What the fuck, I had thought to myself as I looked around. The parking lot was relatively empty. It was our typical Friday routine. O'Malley parked next to me and then I always gave him his food before he followed me home. It wasn't a very exciting life, this life of a Mob Boss, but I was doing what I needed to in order to have some sort of normalcy returned to my life before the babies were born. Before I could call 9-1-1 I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Joseph DiStefano and Hailey Upton standing in front of me. "Let's go." Joseph said, grabbing my arm. "What the fuck? What are you doing? You're hurting me Joseph. Let go of me." I said. "Jesus, just knock her out already. I can't stand listening to her." Hailey said. "Bitch, how did you get out of jail? Did this prick help you escape? You are so dead. It's only a matter of time before someone comes looking for me. What do you think is going to happen when O'Malley doesn't check in with the O'Doyles? You think they're going to let that slide? You tried to fuck with me once before Hailey and I outsmarted you. Don't be mistaken, I'll kill you this time if you lay a finger on me. And you, Joseph. What do you think is going to happen in Boston, when Paddy finds out what you've done? He's not going to accept this. He's going to go to war, and it's a war your family won't win." I said as I was bound at the ankles and wrists before being tossed into the trunk of a black sedan.

As I laid there, in the dark I tried to regulate my breathing. My blood pressure had been high throughout the course of my pregnancy and this sure as hell wasn't going to help things. I talked to my babies, letting them know it was going to be okay. If I couldn't get us out of this mess then I knew their daddy would come rescue us. The one thing Joseph and Hailey didn't know is I am required to text Rixton when I pull into my garage each night. My house was set far enough back on the property so it wasn't visible from the street. That meant no surveillance equipment, which I'm sure is one of the reasons Uncle Paddy had it on his list. I was guessing I had about thirty minutes or so before Rixton notified Hank that I hadn't checked in and they started looking for me. I just need to find a way to stay calm and stay alive up till that point. It was close to twenty-five minutes later when the car stopped moving and I heard the doors open and close. I had searched the trunk for something I could use as a weapon but had come up empty. I heard footsteps and voices approaching the car. And then the trunk opened and I looked into the face of the man I knew wanted me dead...El Gato. "Well, look what we have here. I do suppose congratulations are in order. I understand you and Detective Halstead are having twins. It's too bad he will never meet his babies." El Gato told me. "Lay one finger on me and I will kill both you and your daughter. Hurt me or my unborn children and you will have no chance of surviving. Why did you even bother to come looking for me? Why didn't you just leave the country when you escaped? Is payback that important to you?" I replied. "Ah, the young queen doesn't yet understand the power she has. And what it's going to do to her Uncle...to Sargent Voight...to Detective Halstead when they find her dead body and the body of her newborns down by the river. I think we'll leave her body in the same spot she was found after shooting my son Ramon." he told Hailey and Joseph. "For now get her out of the trunk and get her set up in one of the bedrooms. I'll speak with her again in the morning." he instructed. "The morning!? You're crazy if you think for one minute I'll still be here in the morning." I replied. "Oh, but you will. You see, you are now in the house next door to yours. I have recently purchased this house, under a different name of course, because I want to keep my eye on the comings and goings that occur as the search gets underway for you. It's going to be fun to watch over the next few months." El Gato told me.

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY:**

Now eighty-seven days later I am still his prisoner. I tried to escape, every day, over that first month and a half, but failed. And each time I failed I took a beating. Not to my stomach, but to my face, my arms, my legs. All of my beatings were delivered by Hailey, and I knew she took great pleasure in it. I had tried again three days ago and received a beating that had knocked me unconscious for hours. And she ignored her father and hit me in the stomach. I was going to kill her. That's all there was to it. El Gato wanted me to deliver my babies and he would kill them when he killed me, leaving our three bodies for Jay to find. I decided that fighting them was not the way to get out of here. I watched their routines every day. Just as I did on all those Fridays with Hank, they became sloppy, not altering their patterns. I knew it would just be a matter of time before I would have the opportunity to escape. I patiently waited and bided my time. I talked to my babies, decided on names for them and prayed each night that God would keep them safe and send Jay and Hank to rescue us. As I got out of bed that morning I heard lots of shouting. Hailey, El Gato and Joseph seemed to be having an argument of sorts. Maybe I could use this to my advantage. I took a shower and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before making my way out of the room. I had been given the okay to roam the house with the exception of El Gato's office. And that's where the noise was coming from. "Good Morning, Luis. What's with all the drama?" I asked the man who tended to watch me like a hawk. I'm not sure if he was really there to protect me from Hailey or to protect Hailey from me, but after the first month of my captivity, Luis showed up and hadn't left the house since. I actually kind of liked him. He was nice and always made sure I was getting plenty of rest, exercise and eating the right type of food. I don't know if he knew that El Gato was planning on killing the babies after they were born. "Good Morning Christine. I don't know. Something about a trip they need to take. Something to do with passports. It's been going on for almost thirty minutes. I'm just trying to block it out." he replied.

Suddenly the door to the study opened and Hailey said "Luis, you're with me and Joseph today. Let's go." "Going out in the daylight Hailey? And here I was starting to think you were a vampire. Never going out during the day. Maybe my wish will come true and you'll burst into flames the second you step outside." I said taunting her. As she took a step towards me, I smirked at her and said "Go ahead. I dare you. Lay one hand on me and it will be the last mistake you ever make." As she stepped forward a voice from the study said "Enough. Hailey, go. You know what you need to do today. Be safe and I'll see you and Joseph when you return." I looked at El Gato, thinking that there was a chance I was going to be left alone in the house with him and if that was the case then I would be making my move. I was going to take control of the situation. El Gato returned to his study when Hailey and Joseph went out to the garage. "Bye Luis. I'll see you later." I said as I walked towards the fridge to get the orange juice. "It's time for you to go. You'll need this." he said quietly, handing me a gun. I looked at him in surprise and he responded "I don't believe in killing children. You need to go. Get out of here today. We'll be back in three hours. Be gone before then." he instructed.

I wanted to listen to Luis. To take the gun and run, but I had business I needed to take care of first. I needed to get rid of El Gato, Hailey and Joseph once and for all. I wasn't running, I was going to wait for Hailey to come home. I was ending this once and for all today. These people threatened my children and have held me captive. Jesus, I'm sure everyone thinks I'm dead at this point. Three hours later, I sat in El Gato's study with the gun pointed at him. "Papa. We're back." I heard Hailey yell as she entered the kitchen from the garage. "Tell her, now." I said standing. "Hailey, come in here please. I need to talk to you." he replied. I stood on the side of the door with the gun raised. As the door opened and Hailey walked in I noticed the look of surprised when she saw her father tied to his desk chair. "What the..." was all she got out before it was my turn to knock her unconscious with the gun. I stuffed the gag back in El Gato's mouth and quickly bound Hailey's hands and ankles. I dragged her over to the side of the couch. As I stood up straight I gasped as a sharp pain shot through my lower back and abdomen. "Come on babies. Just be good for a little while longer. We are almost free." I thought to myself.

I walked out into the kitchen and saw Joseph sitting at the counter. "Hailey and El Gato want you in the study. I was walking past the door and they told me to get you." I said as I took a seat. Joseph stood to get up, and as he was exiting the kitchen, I said "Hey Joseph" to get his attention. He turned and I shot him in both legs. I walked over to him, removed his gun from the waistband of his pants and hit him knocking him unconscious. "Christine, what are you doing?" Luis asked me. "Luis, you need to leave. I don't want you caught up in what is about to happen. Seriously, you need to go now." I told him before walking into the study. "Oh good. I'm glad to see that you're waking up Hailey. Guess I didn't hit you hard enough. I'll have to work on that, but as your father pointed out almost three months ago, I am a young queen. Which means I still have plenty to learn, but I think I'm doing...AAAAAAHHHHHH." I finished by screaming as the cramping worsened. "You don't look so good. Maybe one of the punches I threw caused some pregnancy complications. Doesn't matter tho. You're dead. You and your babies." she said taunting me. "Shut up bitch!" I yelled as I bent over barely able to stand. I held up the gun and pulled the trigger. I saw El Gato's eyes widen as Hailey slumped down. I don't know if I killed her and I honestly don't care either way. I just need to get out of there. However, El Gato posed a bigger threat to me and my children. I had the bruises from the beatings, so I was going to claim self defense. I walked over and untied him from his chair and removed the gag. He pushed past me and ran over towards Hailey. I knew she had a gun on her. I saw it and knew El Gato had seen it as well. As he reached towards Hailey's gun, I shot him. I shot him four times. I prayed that I killed him.

Barely able to breathe because of the pain, I ran to the only phone in the house. It was the phone on El Gato's desk and I called Hank. "Hank, help me." I said when he answered. I felt another sharp pain so severe that I thought something was tearing apart inside of me. I screamed in pain. I remember hearing Hank call my name over the phone as I looked down and saw blood dripping down my legs. I dropped the phone and screamed "NO!" In fear that I was miscarrying my babies. Then once again, my world went dark.


	24. Aftermath

**A/N: I was having a little bit of trouble figuring out how to proceed with the next couple of chapters when I received a message from EyesOnTV777 wanting to know more about what Jay was going through and how he was dealing with Christine's disappearance. I hope I did his character justice in this chapter. The next chapter will cover some of the same things, but will be from Christine's point of view and how the relationship between her and Jay changes. I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Jay's P.O.V.**

I looked at Voight sitting behind his desk. I've been avoiding having this conversation with him for the past eight-seven days. Jesus, it's been eight-seven days, I thought warily. It's been eighty-seven days since I last saw Christine. Eighty-seven days since she yelled at me in the Doctor's office. Eighty-seven days since her beautiful Caribbean blue eyes looked at me. Eighty-seven days since I saw her growing pregnant belly. Eighty-seven days since Voight told me I was having a boy and a girl. Eighty-seven days since Hank called me with the news that Christine had missed her nightly check-in with Rixton. Eighty-seven days since I last saw the woman I love. Eighty-seven days spent worrying and searching. Eighty-seven days spent chasing leads to come up empty handed. Eighty-seven days since Burgess last spoke to me without anger & blame in her voice and eyes. Eighty-seven days since my team looked at me without pity in their eyes. Eighty-seven days of pure hell and torture. I stood up and decided it was time to bite the bullet. I caused all of this to happen. It was time to turn in my shield and my gun. I'm not the same cop I once was. My instincts were off. I was a liability to myself and to my team. I sighed, shook my head and walked into the lion's den...to talk to the man who was disappointed and angry...to talk to the man who I was sure blamed me for Christine's disappearance.

"Sarge, you have a minute?" I asked knocking on his door. "Yeah, what do you need Halstead?" he replied as his cell phone rang. "Hold on. Let me grab this." he said leaving me to my thoughts. Thoughts that had kept me up at night for the past eighty-seven days. "Christine! Christine!" I heard Voight yell. What? Had I imagined that? Is she really on the phone? Is she really alive? I jumped to my feet ready to grab the phone out of his hand as he said her name again, "Christine? Can you hear me? Where are you?" Hank yelled as he jumped up from his chair. I followed him out of the office, not sure what was going on until he told Al to run a trace on his phone. The call was still connected but she had stopped speaking. He told the team, looking at me with concern on his face that she said "Hank, help me" before letting out a blood curdling scream. "Hank, we have her location. The call is from a land line at the house next door to hers in the Gold Coast neighborhood." Al said a few minutes later. "Okay. Let's move out. We don't know what we are walking into so be alert when we arrive. Halstead, you're with me. Burgess, call Platt on the way. Tell her to roll more units for backup and to send an ambulance. Let's go. Now!" Hank ordered as we raced down the stairs behind him.

God, please let her be alive. I silently prayed from the passenger seat of Voight's Escalade. Please let her be okay. Please let our unborn children be okay. Please let me be able to tell her how sorry I am and how much I love her. "Hank, she has to be okay. The past eighty-seven days have almost killed me. I need her to be okay. And if she's hurt I will kill Hailey, El Gato and DiStefano. They're going to pay for what they've done." I said. "Jay, just keep a level head when we go in there. I'm considering having you wait outside when the rest of us go in. You're too close, this is too personal for you and I'm wondering how that will affect you depending on what we find." Voight replied. "Sarge, I would never disobey a direct order under most circumstances but there's no fucking way you are keeping me from going in and getting her." I replied curtly. "I figured your response would be something along those lines. Well, I hope these past eighty-seven days have given you time to prepare a really good apology." Hank said. It had, I thought to myself. I just hope I get the chance to say it. We made it to Christine's street in under twenty-minutes. As we quickly put on our vests, Hank delivered the game plan. "Burgess and Al – take the garage. Rixton, Atwater and Ruzek – take the back. Halstead and Antonio, you're with me at the front. We move in on my count."

One minute later we entered the house. As we cleared the rooms one by one we only found DiStefano unconscious and bleeding on the kitchen floor. I saw Ruzek securing him as Hank, Antonio and I stood in the hallway outside of two double doors, preparing to breach the room. "Oh My God! Hank, what the hell happened here?" I heard Antonio say as he called for two more ambulances over his radio. My heart sank as we burst thru the doors. "Christine!" I yelled as I ran over to where she was laying, unconscious and in a pool of blood. "No! Baby, I need you to wake up. Christine, please wake up." I begged crying as I held her in my arms. I couldn't stop the tears from falling. The tough Army Ranger turned Detective was falling apart as the woman I love laid dying in my arms. I was convinced she was dying. I couldn't find a pulse as I held her but couldn't stop begging her to wake up. "Jay. Let Dawson and Brett work on her. Come on man, you need to move back." Kevin said as he pulled me away from her. "Let go of me!" I screamed breaking out of his hold. I fell back to my knees and wrapped her in my arms once again. "Baby, wake up." I begged as I rocked back and forth crying with her in my arms. "Oh, Jesus." I heard Sylvie whisper as she walked into the room with Gabby. Kevin pulled me away from Christine once again and as the Medics did their thing I went after El Gato. "What the fuck did you do?" I yelled at El Gato. I didn't care that he was bleeding. I grabbed him and pulled him to his knees. Holding him by the collar with one hand, I hit him over and over again. I didn't stop until Hank pulled me off of him. "Jay, stop. He's unconscious. He can't feel anything. Upton's dead." he told me. "Good. The bitch deserved to die." I said not even glancing at her cold dead body. "She's got a faint pulse. Let's get her on the stretcher and get her to Med." I heard Sylvie say. I'm going in the ambulance." I said as I walked out of the room behind Sylvie and Gabby who were pushing a stretcher containing Christine's unconscious body.

The ambulance ride was one of the worst experiences of my life. I watched, helplessly as Sylvie worked on Christine as she went into cardiac arrest. "Gabby, radio Med. Her blood pressure is dangerously low and I can't stop the bleeding. The babies heart rates are very faint as well. Tell them to have Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Manning prepped and ready. Shit! She's crashing again. How far out are we?" Sylvie yelled. "Five minutes." Gabby replied. "She's not going to make it another five minutes. She has maybe three at the most." Sylvie said. "Three minutes? She's dying? Sylvie do something. Save her." I begged. "They're waiting for us at Med. Two minutes out." Gabby yelled from the driver's seat. "Baby, hang on. We're almost there. Please Christine. I can't lose you." I begged as I held her hand.

The ambulance doors opened moments later and I saw my brother waiting outside the E.D. with Dr. Choi, April and Maggie. "Jay, Nat and Connor are prepping for surgery right now. You need to let Maggie know if they can't save the three of them who do they save, Christine or the twins?" Will asked me as we headed up to the Operating Room behind the stretcher. "What? Why wouldn't they all survive? What do you know, Will?" I asked, shocked that I need to make this decision. "I can't lose her Will. They need to save her." I said to my brother as I cried at the thought of losing the twins. "I'll let Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Manning know." Maggie said quietly, leaving Will and I in the waiting room. "Jay, she has the best doctors this hospital has operating on her. You need to believe she'll come through this. The three of them will come through this." Will said. Two hours later we were still waiting for word when my Unit came in. "Halstead. Have you heard anything?" Hank asked. I just shook my head. I was unable to speak - the fear was eating away at me...the fear and the guilt. As hour three approached the doors opened and Nat and Connor walked into the waiting room. I hadn't noticed them as I stood with my back to the room looking out the window. "Jay." Kim said to get my attention.

"Jay. I had to perform an emergency c-section as Connor worked on Christine. Your son and daughter were born at 27 ½ weeks. Typically, the survival rate is 80% - 90% for twins born at that stage but, given the trauma they suffered I'm not comfortable at giving them those odds. I would say there's maybe a 50% chance they will survive. Your son was born first at 5:44pm, weighing 4lbs 3oz and your daughter was born two minutes later at 3lbs 6oz. They are currently up in a private room in the NICU in incubators. They'll have to remain there for an extended period of time. After Connor fills you in on Christine's condition, I'll take you up to meet your children." Nat said. I was blown away. That's so small, I thought to myself as my legs gave out and I fell into a chair. I looked up at Connor and prepared myself for more bad news. Connor sat down next to me and looked at me with tears in his eyes before he spoke. "Jay, Christine is currently in a coma. The significant blood loss, caused her, as you know, to go into cardiac arrest twice in the ambulance. She flatlined again when I had her opened up on the table. I had to put in an artificial valve. The stress caused a significant amount of damage to her left ventricle making it almost impossible for the blood flow to reach her heart. As with any valve replacement surgery there is a risk of developing blood clots which potentially could lead to an embolism if the clot becomes mobile. The coma is her body's way of protecting itself, but I'm going to be honest. I only give her a 25% chance. You need to get her Dad out here immediately. And I would recommend having a priest come as well. You know she's Catholic so I would request to have him give her last rites. I'm sorry Jay. I wish there is more I could do or say."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I looked around the waiting room, that was filled with people who love and care about Christine. I heard Kim softly crying in Ruzek's arms, devastated by the news Connor had just delivered. I noticed Sylvie and Gabby's cheeks were wet from the tears that silently streamed down. Voight had sunk into a chair, his eyes filling with unshed tears as Connor told us there was only a 25% chance. I then met the angry, hateful eyes of Kelly Severide. "This is your fault, Halstead. You should have stayed away from her. If you had none of this would have happened." he yelled as he walked towards me. I stood up and was immediately shoved back into my chair by Severide. I got back up and took a swing at him. "Back off Severide. Face it, she picked me, not you. She's in love with me. You never stood a chance." I said furiously. "Enough! Halstead, go meet your children. I'll call Michael Brennan and Father Murphy. I'll see you in Christine's room a little later." Hank said.

I followed Nat and Will up to a private room in the NICU. I walked over and looked down at my son and daughter. "They're so small." I said. "What are their names?" Will asked. "I don't know. I don't know if she decided on names. I'm sure she did. I don't know my children's names. Will, what am I going to do if she dies? If I lose her? If I lose all three of them?" I asked as my legs gave out one more time. I collapsed on the floor and cried. "Jay, you need to focus on your children right now. I know it's hard, but you're not alone. We're with you. Whatever you need, Nat and I are here for you." my brother said as he pulled me off the floor. I wiped my eyes and looked back down at the twins. "Hey kiddos. I'm your Dad. Now I need the two of you to be strong. You're fighters, just like your Mom. You continue to grow and we'll get you home as soon as possible. I love you both more than you'll ever know. I'm going to see your Mom now, but I'll be back soon." I told them, wishing I could hold them. Wishing Christine was here to see them. Our daughter has Christine's hair, I thought to myself. "Nat, thank you. Thank you for saving them." I said, as tears silently streamed down her face.

I followed Will to the ICU where Christine's room was. I went in and sat down in the chair next to her bed. I picked up her hand and brought it to my lips. I couldn't make the tears stop. "Baby, I need you to wake up. You need to meet our children. They're tiny but beautiful. Our daughter has a full head of curly auburn hair. God, I have so much I want to say to you but I need you to be awake when I apologize. So please, Christine, my love, I need you to open those beautiful blue eyes of yours. I need you to come back to me. I can't raise our twins without you. So, come on baby, open your eyes for me." I said.

The next ten days continued pretty much the same. I spent my days going back and forth between Christine's room and the NICU. I haven't left the hospital. I couldn't leave. I was too afraid something would happen and I wouldn't be there. Christine's Dad and Uncle arrived the day after the twins were born. That's the day Father Murphy performed the sacrament of last rites. As he was praying, Christine surprised all of us by saying "If you're giving me last rites you can stop now. I'm not ready to die." She slipped back into the coma after that and hasn't woken since. I spend each morning talking to Christine. I fill her in with news from her hotels, from 51, from the Police Department and most importantly I tell her about our twins. Then each afternoon I sit in the twins' private room in the NICU and read to them. As I sit here, in a rocking chair, reading to them I heard the door open behind me. Everyone knew I was to be left alone for the few hours a day I could spend with my children. Ready to snap at whoever interrupted me, the look of annoyance was replaced with one of shock when I saw who was standing there. It was Christine.


	25. Moving On

**CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

I could hear the voices, the sirens, the beeping of machines but I couldn't open my eyes or talk. The last thing I remember hearing was "She's crashing!" before I gave into the blackness once again. The next time I could feel myself regaining consciousness I heard people yelling about heart rates, blood pressure and surgery. The darkness was a better option. I didn't feel a thing I thought as I slipped back under. I heard Jay, softly crying and could feel him holding my hand but I was pulled back under. The next time I floated towards consciousness I could hear someone praying. "If you're giving me last rites you can stop now. I'm not ready to die." I croaked thinking how dry my throat was. The darkness was too strong to fight as it sucked me back in.

I eventually opened my eyes and saw my Dad looking exhausted and disheveled on one side of my bed and my Uncle Paddy on the other side. I wasn't sure if they were sleeping so I whispered "Hi." That was enough because they both jumped up. "Water, please." I said. As Uncle Paddy poured me a little water my Dad went to find the nurse. "How do you feel?" Uncle Paddy asked. "Like hell." I replied. "Where am I? What day is it?" I asked. I was at Chicago Med and had been there in a coma for ten days! "What?" I yelled. "Did you have them give me last rites?" I demanded to know. "That was my call. They told us you only had a 25% chance of survival. Father Murphy almost needed last rites himself when you told him to stop." Hank said coming into the room with the nurse and my Dad. I reached down to touch my stomach and noticed it wasn't the same as it had been on July 9th, the day I shot El Gato, Hailey and Joseph. "My babies! What happened? Are they okay? Did I lose them? Tell me!" I demanded, my voice filled with hysteria. "They were born at 27 ½ weeks. Dr. Manning said the survival rate at their time of birth was 50% but increased those odds based on how well they have been doing in the incubators over the past week and a half. They're up in the NICU. Dr. Rhodes operated on you when you were first brought in. He will be in shortly and if he gives the okay we will wheel you up to meet your children." the Nurse told me.

"Kid, I'm going to give you some time with your family. I'll be back tonight to check on you. Before I go, I think I should tell you that Halstead has been here around the clock. He's been going back and forth between your room and where the twins are. I'm glad you're back with us. I'll have to take your statement when I come back. Looks like it was self defense. Joseph and El Gato are still alive. Hailey didn't make it. We'll talk about that later." Hank said. He looked at me, leaned down and whispered in my ear "It would have killed me to lose you or the babies. It was a rough three months without you." He then turned and walked out of the room. "Well look who has decided to wake up from her nap." Connor said as he walked into the room with Nat next to him. "You gave us quite the scare. I think it would be best if these little adventures of yours stop. I'm tired of having to operate on you." Connor said. He went on to say that the blood loss caused me to go into cardiac arrest multiple times and as he worked on my heart and put in an artificial valve, Natalie performed an emergency c-section. With tears in my eyes, I looked at both of them and said "Thank you. Thank you for saving me and for saving my babies. Nat, how are they? Can I see them?" "They're doing much better than I thought they would be for being born at 27 ½ weeks. I would have liked to have seen them make it to at least 32 weeks but they are growing and they're healthy. Because of the circumstances, we waited to fill out their birth certificates but that needs to be done today. We can talk about it later. I'll grab a wheelchair and we'll take you to meet your children." Nat said. My Dad and Uncle Paddy said they would wait for me in my room and to take as long as I needed.

I was wheeled to a private room in the NICU where, thru the window, I saw Jay sitting, reading a book out loud to two tiny babies. "Stop here. I don't know if I'm ready to see him just yet." I said. "Christine, he has been a wreck these past three months. Even his lowest point after Erin left didn't compare to how bad he's been since you were abducted. He's been going insane trying to find you. I don't think he slept much over those three months. I think he blamed himself and he hasn't left the hospital over the past ten days either. I'll give you a few minutes alone with him and your children. Then I'll come back and we can discuss their treatment and next steps." Nat said softly. "Thank you, Nat." I said as I slowly stood up and opened the door to the room where my babies were. Jay looked up, annoyed at the interruption until he saw me. "Hi." I said, slowly walking past him and looking down at the two incubators. "They're so small." I said, as tears fell down my face. "They may be small but they take after their mother. That's what I've been telling them since the day they were born. They're fighters. No one told me you were awake. I'm sorry I wasn't there. How are you? Are you sure you should be out of bed already?" Jay asked as he put his arm around me. "Probably not but did you think Connor stood a chance in keeping me away from the two of them? It wasn't going to happen. Jay, I decided on names for them when I was kidnapped. It gave me a way of making them seem more real. They gave me a reason to hold on until I found a way to escape. I would like his name to be Aiden Michael Halstead and her name to be Quinn Maureen Halstead. Their middle names are for my parents, along with Irish first names and of course your last name. What do you think?" I said, as I leaned up against him, whether it was for emotional support, physical support, or a combination of the two I wasn't sure. It was just nice to feel him so close.

"I think those are perfect names. Aiden and Quinn. So, Nat told me that there's a good chance they can come out of the incubators for a short time later in the week. We might actually be able to hold them. That's the worst part...not being able to hold them. Christine, thank you. Thank you for the two of them. It's only been ten days but I didn't think it was possible to love as much as I love them. As much as I love you. I was a real asshole but when I thought I lost you forever I realized what a jerk I had been. What you said to me the last time I saw you in the Doctor's office stuck with me. All the sacrifices you made were to keep me safe. I feel like I'm always apologizing for something but I need to tell you how sorry I am for everything you've been thru. I love you Christine. That hasn't changed. I just hope you can forgive me and we can try again." he said. "Jay, I need some time. Time to figure out how I feel and time to rebuild my life. I mean on top of now being a Mother to two tiny human beings I need to find out if I still have a company and a career. I just need some time." I said.

Before another word could be said Nat came back in. We discussed Aiden and Quinn's health and she told us that we should be able to take them out of the incubators and hold them for a short time on Monday. They would be two weeks old and because they were growing at an unimaginable rate, they would be almost 5lbs. Looking at them I thought they were truly beautiful. Aiden, had my eyes but I saw a lot of Jay in him, even as a newborn. However, Quinn was going to be a mini-me. With a head full of thick curly dark auburn hair and blue eyes the same shade as mine, there would never be any question as to whose daughter she is.

After spending three hours with the twins I was informed I needed to return to my room. Doctor's orders plus Hank, Al and Rixton were waiting to take my statement. Jay wheeled me back to my room and sat on the edge of my bed, letting me know he was clearly staying. I asked my Dad and Uncle Paddy to leave the room. As I took them thru the events start to finish, I stopped before I got to the shooting. "I'm not sure if I need a lawyer before I continue." I said. "Kid, I'll tell you what I tell my Unit. I'm telling you this because you're family. You don't lie to me. You tell me the truth so I can cover for you, so I can lie for you if needed." Hank said. I sat quietly for a few minutes thinking about what he said. Thinking about family, about my family, which other than my Dad and Uncle, was a family created not by blood but by respect and love. I knew Hank would protect me. Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I shot Joseph DiStefano first. I had El Gato tied up and gagged in his study. I knocked Hailey unconscious when she entered the study and tied her hands and feet. When I shot Joseph it wasn't self defense. It was in cold blood. He betrayed me, betrayed his family and betrayed my Uncle when he helped Hailey and El Gato escape from prison and take me hostage. I was pissed because he stood silently by and watched as Hailey beat me over and over again each time I tried to escape. She was normally careful to avoid my stomach. But when I tried to escape on the 7th she used my stomach as a punching bag. She was still tied up when I shot her. I honestly didn't care if she died. I'm not sorry that she is dead either. She got what was coming. I then untied El Gato and watched him go for Hailey's gun. That's when I shot him, four times. I didn't want him to live. I had prayed that I killed him. I then called you, Hank, and that's when the pain became too much. I looked down and saw I was bleeding and that's the last thing I really remember until I woke up today. Hank, I can't go to jail. I came so close to losing my babies. I can't be away from them." "Sounds like self defense to me. DiStefano was going for his gun when you shot him in the legs. We had traced the call and because you dropped the phone the call remained connected so we were able to get a location. Atwater and Ruzek immediately got rid of the ropes and the gag. Jay went in the ambulance with you while the rest of us walked thru the house. Hailey had pictures of you on her phone, beaten bloody and unconscious, so I would say it was a justifiable homicide. Self defense in all three shootings." Hank replied. "I'll type it up and bring it by tomorrow for you to sign. Get some rest kid and congrats." Al said as he and Rixton walked out the door leaving Jay and I alone with Hank.

Hank looked at us with a solemn look and said "I know the two of you have a lot you need to figure out but I have a bigger concern than your relationship right now. Christine, you didn't kill El Gato, which means he is going to want revenge. We can keep you safe in the hospital but my concern is when you are discharged. I need you to continue your role in the family business. Beef up your security. It's time to take on more lieutenants. They'll protect you. I know it's going to take a while for you to get back up and running but it needs to be done. Halstead, I need to know if you can get on board with this. We keep it in house and run this operation out of Intelligence and not the Gang Unit. If we do it this way it could be a huge win for us and as a result we will get Christine out of the family business when we take down her Uncle. So, Halstead, are you in?" "Sarge, I made a huge mistake all those months ago in not supporting or protecting the woman I love. I won't make the same mistake again. I'm all in. Whatever you need me to do I will." Jay said. "Okay then. Halstead, you look like shit. Go home and get some sleep. I expect you back at the District in the morning." Hank ordered before saying goodnight and leaving.

The next few days were filled with visits from my friends. I spent as much time as possible in the NICU with the twins. Jay came by each day at lunch and after work. He didn't push me about trying again and I was grateful. I was leaning towards the both of us moving on separately in the romance department. I just don't know if I could trust him to not freak out again and push me away as a result. Laura came by and had nothing but good news. Both hotels were going strong. The Hotel 30 – Chicago was sold out almost every night and the Hotel 30 – Myrtle Beach has the second highest occupancy and ADR (Average Daily Rate) in all of Myrtle Beach! I was so impressed with what she had done over the past three months that I promoted her to Vice President of Brennan Inc. That was the name of the company I had created as the ownership group for both hotels. I told her to give me a week and then I'd be back in the office for a few hours each day.

On Monday Jay and I were allowed to hold our children for the first time. It was beyond amazing to be able to finally touch them. The nurse gently placed Aiden and Quinn on the bed in my hospital room. I sat up and laid them out in front of me. I wanted to see every inch of their body. I couldn't believe they were actually here and according to Nat making strides to being completely healthy. They were beautiful and perfect. They both had 10 fingers, 10 toes, my blue eyes and dark hair. Quinn's hair was thicker already than Aiden's and so curly. So beautiful...both of them. Aiden, our firstborn, was 5 pounds 2 ounces and 16 inches long with Quinn now at 4 pounds 11 ounces and 13 inches long. Sure, they were still on the small side but not bad for being as premature as they were. We still had a month or so to go before they would be released, but I was going home in four days. That night, after we brought the twins back to NICU, Jay took me back to my room and handed me a small box. "What is it?" I asked looking at him suspiciously. "Open it." he said grinning at me. As I opened the box my eyes widened as I looked at a beautiful platinum bracelet with four birthstones set in the center. My December birthday represented by a stone made of Blue Topaz sat next to an Emerald representing Jay's May birthday. On the outside of our stones were two gorgeous Ruby's, representing Aiden & Quinn's July birth. I was truly stunned by the thought he had put into designing this bracelet. "Jay, it's beautiful. I don't know what to say. Thank you." I said with tears in my eyes. I took the bracelet out of the box and watched him clasp it on my right wrist.

"Jay, I've been thinking. Once the twins are discharged it would probably be more convenient if we are all in the same house. While we are figuring things out you are more than welcome to stay. There's plenty of bedrooms. It will give you the opportunity to be with the twins more than if you were at your apartment. Think about it and let me know what you decide." I said. "I saw your house. Hank and I went there when Rixton notified him that you missed your nightly check-in. It's beautiful. You always had great taste and that's reflected in the way you furnished it. I guess we'll have to get working on the twins' rooms when you're released from here. I should probably get settled there before they come home. I could start to get settled there the day you are released. God, Christine you have no idea how scared I was that I lost you. I love you and I love our children. I'm so sorry and please know that I want to be with you. Please let me come home with you on Friday." he said. "Jay, if you want to come home with me on Friday you can. I can't offer you anything else at this time and it's not because I don't love you. The past three months have been hard. Actually, the past seven months, those months since we first met have been hard. I need time to figure out who I am. I hate to say it but I'm not the same person I was. I know I definitely need to go to therapy to talk about what I've been thru. Just be patient with me. Please. And please don't give up on me or give up on us. No matter what we are always going to be connected, whether we move on separately or together. I'm sorry." I said with tears in my eyes. "I'm not giving up on us, so I'll go home with you on Friday and stay in one of the guest rooms. I understand and you don't have to apologize." he said leaning over and placing a light kiss on my lips.

Knowing, I had errands to do the day I was released I showered and after leaving my hair curly and applying my makeup I put on a pale blue, turquoise and white halter dress that tied behind my neck and slipped on a pair of white cork wedges. I felt guilty for leaving Aiden and Quinn in the hospital knowing I wouldn't see them until the next morning. After Jay and I fed them, changed them and kissed them goodbye we put them back in the incubators and for the first time in weeks I walked out of Chicago Med. I made Jay take me to the furniture store so we could order everything we needed for the twins' rooms. I then told him I needed to stop by the hotel. I hadn't mentioned to Laura that I was coming, but when we walked in my team was there to greet me. After an hour of catching up with everyone Jay told me we needed to make one more stop before heading home. "What are you up to Halstead?" I asked. "You'll see in a minute." he said as he turned down a familiar street. We pulled up to Molly's and as I got out I turned to him and smiled. "I'm driving you to drink and you haven't moved in yet. I don't know if that's a good sign." I said teasing him. "I love you." he simply said as he grabbed my hand and lead me up the steps into Molly's. We walked in and the first thing I noticed was that I knew everyone in the bar. They had closed the bar to throw me a "Welcome Home, So Glad You're Not Dead" party. Seriously, that's what the banner said that Hermann and Otis had hung over the long wooden bar. I was overwhelmed and possibly experiencing a little PTSD because I started crying as I received hug after hug from my friends at 51, the Police Department, Chicago Med and the hotel. "I'll grab you a drink. What do you want?" Jay asked me. "Already got it for her." a voice said from behind us. "Kelly." I said smiling as the tears started again. "Hey. None of that now. You're safe and it's over. Every time I stopped in to see you this week you were sleeping or with the twins. I didn't want to disturb you. God, I've missed you." he said, with tears in his eyes as he pulled me in for a hug. "I'll give you the weekend to get settled back at home but Monday night you and I have a date. I'm taking you to the Cubs game. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't make it. You know I love you, right? I'll make sure to do whatever I can to prevent anything like that from happening again." Kelly said. I looked over to Jay and noticed the visible tick in his left cheek. I must have missed something when I had been kidnapped or in the coma.

"Thank you for that." I said to Jay as he pulled into my garage. "I think I'm a little drunk. That was the first time I drank since Super Bowl Sunday. But I had a lot of fun. You've been quiet. Want to tell me what the deal is between you and Kelly?" "Not tonight. It's not important. I'm glad you had fun. You deserve a little downtime more than anyone I know. I have to go to the District tomorrow morning around 7:30am but I'll meet you at the hospital afterwards." he said as we entered the kitchen from the garage. It was then that I saw yellow roses, the bottle of Veuve Clicquot and framed photos on the island in the kitchen. It was a photo of each one of the twins that the hospital took after they cleaned them up the day they were born. Aiden with his little blue cap and Quinn with her pink one. Their names had been engraved on the silver frames along with their date of birth and their measurements. "Jay..." I said softly looking up at him. I looked at him. Really looked at him and as his eyes met mine I saw the Jay I had fallen in love with. The man who was the father of my children. The man I loved. The man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. "Jay, I never stopped loving you." I said with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. "Now are you going to kiss me or do I have to wait another five months for that to happen?" I asked. And I didn't need to ask twice. Grabbing my hand, he lead the way up the winding staircase and into my master bedroom. As he lightly kissed me his hands made their way to the back of my neck to untie the top of my dress. As he pulled the top of the white lace bra over my nipple, he took it in his mouth and playfully pinched the other nipple between his fingers. I hadn't been touched since February so I almost orgasmed at his touch. He quickly undid my bra as his mouth moved from one nipple to the other. He pulled me to the edge of the bed and slipped me out of the rest of my dress. When he saw my thong his grin got bigger and once again I realized I was going to have to start building up my supply of g-strings and thongs as he shredded it. I scrambled out of the way to crawl up on my knees. I pulled his shirt over his head as he undid his jeans. God, I thought as I looked at his body. Five months was too long to be away from him. As he thrusted into me over and over I orgasmed more times than I could keep track of. His cock was so hard as we rolled over so I could climb on top of him. I rode him, grinding against him and as we orgasmed together he told me he loved me and wasn't going to let me go ever again.

* * *

 **A/N: Sadly, Christine and Jay have a few more obstacles to face as they figure out how to raise twins and deal with their demanding careers, a Cartel boss who still wants revenge on Christine. Not only that but even tho Jay said he was all in, he was having trouble dealing with some of the things Christine does for the Irish Mob. Hope you are all enjoying and stay tuned for more chapters to come this week!**


	26. Thinking Like A Cop Or Like A Mob Boss?

Over the next month Jay and I fell into a pretty comfortable routine. I got up at 5:00am five days a week to work out in my home gym for an hour. I would then make us breakfast. Jay would clean up the mess while I was showering and getting ready for the day. We would then leave the house separately by 7:30am and make the drive to Chicago Med. Jay and I would spend an hour with the twins, giving them their first feeding of the day. They amazed the NICU staff because they slept for 10 – 11 hours every night. Jay would then head to work while I would spend an hour twice a week with Dr. Charles. The other three days I spent the extra hour with Aiden and Quinn before heading to work. Jay and I would alternate days we would go back to the hospital at lunch. Each night we met back at the hospital at 7:30pm to spend more time with the twins. On the weekends I would usually spend all day Saturday or all day Sunday at the hospital. Whichever day I didn't spend at the hospital over the weekend I still went to give them their first feeding and to give them their last feeding of the day. Nat told us earlier in the week that she wants to keep them in the incubators for a little longer than originally anticipated. They're now scheduled to be in the hospital until they are ten weeks old. We won't be able to bring them home until September.

At the start of their second month in the incubators I got word that I need to travel for a week...for my "family" job which I decided to tie in with a legitimate work trip. I had to head to Myrtle Beach to check on the hotel there since I didn't have the opportunity to due to the kidnapping. I was then heading to Boston to look at purchasing a hotel there. I was informed by my Uncle Paddy that we would be meeting with the DiStefano family. Because of Joseph's actions amends needed to be made to me and my family. I was considering, if I could get Hank to approve some time off for Jay, surprising him and flying him to Myrtle Beach for a few days. The trip to Boston, along with my friendship with Kelly Severide, is causing some problems in our relationship. I told Kelly that Jay and I are back together. He may not have been happy hearing it but he respects my decision and would never cross the line...at least I don't think he would cross the line. I would like to have Jay come to Boston with me, but I'm not 100% sure how that would go over. Hank and I still have lunch together every Friday, so it was time to let him know of the developments and to see if I could get him to give Jay a few days off and to see if he would visit his pseudo-grandchildren in the hospital while we are gone.

Friday started just like any other day. Jay and I went to the hospital in the morning. He kissed me goodbye and then headed to work. Hank met me at the hospital at 11:30am to see the twins before we headed to lunch. "Have you and Halstead decided on when and where you're going to have them baptized? Here or in Boston? At what Church?" Hank asked as he held Quinn. "Yes, Jay and I talked about it. We've actually decided on Old St. Pat's here in Chicago. It will take place the weekend after they're sprung from their incubators and Chicago Med. I've asked Father Murphy to perform the baptism ceremony. He said yes, but I'm not sure he is actually thrilled about it. I don't think he has quite gotten over me yelling at him when he was giving me last rites. We're going to ask Will and Gabby to be Aiden's godparents and Connor and Kim to be Quinn's godparents. Please don't say anything to them yet. We're having Will, Nat, Gabby, Matt, Connor, Laura, Kim and Ruzek over to the house tomorrow afternoon for a barbeque. Do you have plans? You know I would love to have you there. Also, I have another question for you. I was going to ask you at lunch, but I was hoping next weekend...well actually for a long weekend...well in reality for a week, you would consider covering my shifts watching your pseudo-grandchildren. I need to go to Myrtle Beach and Boston. I'll be gone for seven days. God, being away from them for seven days seems like a lifetime. Anyway, I'm getting off track. I was hoping you would also give Jay, Kim and Adam seven days off as well. Jay hasn't been to the house in Myrtle Beach yet, and we could use some time away before the twins come home from the hospital. Not only that, but I want to bring him to Boston with me. I want to get his opinion on the hotel I'm looking to purchase there. I thought maybe having Kim and Adam with us will help him relax. Plus, I was thinking having three cops and my bodyguard would make things a little less stressful considering I still have the Cartel after me. I was thinking they could also keep my Dad occupied while Paddy and I attend to business." I said. After telling me he would give them the time off, he said we could talk about the rest at the restaurant.

I haven't been back to Piccolo Sogno since the day I was abducted, so when I walked out of Chicago Med to my car, I told O'Malley we were going to the Blackbird for lunch. He, Liam and Shamus were my top three lieutenants and because I didn't really have much for them to do yet they were responsible for my safety. O'Malley swore he would not let anything like that happen to me again. He felt horrible, but just as I told Jay, it wasn't his fault. O'Malley rode with me wherever I went, unless I was with Jay. Liam and Shamus always followed us. I know it drove Jay crazy, but he had told Hank he was all in so as far as I was concerned he needed to put on his big boy pants and deal with it. After Hank and I both ordered burgers for lunch, we got down to business. I told him that Paddy was having me run the meeting. Whatever I decided would be appropriate payback for what Joseph did. The DiStefano Family were going to have no choice but to comply with my demands. It would be either that or war. I'm planning on demanding they give me back all of Chicago to make amends. Our plan was to run the Italian Mafia out of Chicago before we took down the Irish Mob. Hank agreed with my plan and told me he would feel more comfortable having Jay, Kim and Adam with me in Boston. If Rixton hadn't already met Paddy, then Hank would have sent Rixton as well. I currently only had three protecting me at the meeting...Jesus I hadn't thought about that...Jay was going to be pissed that O'Malley, Shamus and Liam would be coming with us. But as I was saying, I only had three protecting me at the meeting and Hank would have felt more comfortable if I had at least two more. That gave me an idea. "Hank, there's something I didn't go into detail about from when I was abducted. There was a guy El Gato brought in to watch me. He was the one who gave me the gun I used to shoot El Gato, Joseph and Hailey. His name is Luis. I told him to leave because I didn't want him involved with what happened. What if we track him down? I can introduce him to everyone as the person who helped save me when I was held captive and as a result I'm bringing him on as one of my soldiers. What do you think?" I asked. "I think you're starting to act and think either like a cop or like a Mob Boss. Either way I still think my first assessment of you was correct. You have a good head on your shoulders. You're smart, and don't take this the wrong way but you're very cunning. You may not have wanted to be part of the family business, but that doesn't mean that you didn't pick up a thing or two from Paddy over the years. Nothing to be ashamed of." Hank replied. Okay, so I now had a lot of work to do over the next four days before we headed to Myrtle Beach.

I hadn't mentioned the details of the trip to Jay yet. I wanted to do it the following night, when he was relaxed. I decided to invite Connor and Laura with us to Myrtle Beach. I knew Connor, Adam and Jay could go golfing while Laura and I spent a few hours at the hotel on Wednesday and Thursday. Knowing Kim as well as I do, I would be willing to bet she would hang either at the pool or on the beach. We would be able to spend Friday and Saturday at the beach before heading to Boston. Laura and Connor could head back to Chicago on Sunday when the four of us head to Boston or they could hang out at my house for a few days. Whatever they wanted to do was fine by me. I also had gotten Red Sox tickets for when we were in Boston. Thought it would be fun thing for us to do with my Dad.

The next day Jay and I went to the hospital early in the morning and stayed with the twins until 2:00pm. We were expecting everyone to arrive at the house at 4:00pm and I had a few things left to do before everyone arrived. I had put together four boxes for Will, Gabby, Connor and Kim to open. Will and Gabby's boxes were wrapped in light blue paper and contained a picture of Aiden in a silver frame. Connor and Kim's boxes were wrapped in light pink paper and contained a picture of Quinn in a silver frame. The pictures were the ones that were taken by the hospital on the day the twins were born. I then had the frames engraved with the word's "Will You Be My Godfather / Godmother?" I thought it was a cute way of asking them. Jay thought it was a little cheesy. After Hank agreed to come today as well, I got another silver frame engraved and put pictures of the twins side by side in it. The engraving on his said "We Love You Grandpa Hank". Jay wanted to kill me. He didn't fully understand my relationship with Hank, but as I always say, he missed a lot when he didn't talk to me for almost two months when I was pregnant. Hank was the one I was always able to go to.

When we got home from the hospital I ran up to my home office, just off my bedroom, and quickly typed up a little itinerary on the computer and put a picture of the house in Myrtle Beach on it. I put on each itinerary that I had already chartered a private plane to take the six of us there and then four of us to Boston. My security team, with the exception of O'Malley, would be flying commercial directly to Boston and waiting for Jay and I there when we arrived on Sunday. O'Malley would be coming to Myrtle Beach and would be staying in the guest house. Shortly after returning from my trip to Myrtle Beach in January I had a small(ish) guest house built. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a decent size living room and kitchen. The house is set on the side of the property and faces the pool. I realized for as much entertaining I wanted to do down there three bedrooms was just not big enough. Now with having two children I was glad I added on the guest house. Jay was in his glory, manning the giant-ass grill I bought when I moved into my house in Chicago. It was only the second time we've used it since he moved in. We had plenty of steak tips, burgers, sausages and hot dogs along with all the fixings – mixed green salad, pasta salad, grilled vegetables, a chocolate strawberry grand marnier cheesecake trifle for dessert and as always plenty to drink.

As we all sat around the large Anderson Teak Bahama double extension outdoor dining table that sat up to twelve, I looked at the group sitting around the table knowing full well what we were about to ask of them would make them family forever, so Jay better keep his shit together in the future. I got up and grabbed the five boxes from the kitchen and walked back out to the patio telling the group "Whoever gets a box can't open the box until I give the go ahead." After hearing laughter and comments about how bossy I am, and Ruzek starting to freak out that Kim was pregnant with a girl and hadn't told him, I then said "For the four of you who have a pink or blue box please know that what's in there is very important. It's a big responsibility, so if you're not sure if you can handle it then just be honest. For Hank, yours truly is a gift with no additional responsibility. Go ahead, Gabby and Kim. You two can open the boxes first." As I went to sit back down in my seat Jay pulled me onto his lap. "I love you. And even though I gave you a ton of shit about the way you were doing this, I think it is pretty wonderful. Just like you." he told me. I kissed him softly and told him "I love you too." Kim and Gabby opened their boxes first, looked at Jay and I with tears in their eyes. They didn't show anyone what was in their boxes, they just smiled. "Okay, Will and Connor, your turn." I said. Guys being guys, they ripped the paper open and pulled out the frames. "Really? There's no way in hell I would ever say no. He's my favorite little guy in the world." Will said showing Nat the picture and the frame. Connor spoke next. "This means a lot to me. Of course, I'm saying yes but I also want to thank you. Because God only knows with the two of you as parents and Kim as her Godmother she's going to need at least one normal person in her life." "Kim accepts, and I just want to say thank you for not telling me this way that she's pregnant and that she's pregnant with a girl. Not quite ready for that." Ruzek said after Kim showed him the frame. I was concerned a little about asking Gabby.

Knowing what she and Matt have gone through in trying to foster a child, adopt a child, or have one of their own I thought this could go either way. Gabby got up and walked over to me. She pulled me out of Jay's lap, hugged me and said, "Thank you. This means more than you could ever imagine. You know I already love him." "Okay, Hank. You're next." I said smiling at him. He opened the box, wrapped in blue paper with a pink ribbon and smiled as he took the lid of the box. "I have the easiest job out of the four of you. I just get to spoil them...I don't have to help raise them. But if I see that you people can't do your jobs then I will step in" he said.

Later on, after Nat and Will left I went back inside and came out asking for everyone else's attention "Okay, I have a few more things to hand out. The first one, is to my Baby Daddy. It seems so weird to say that out loud. Okay, let's try again...the first one is to my love, and yes Ruzek I mean Jay and not you." I said handing Jay an envelope. "Jesus, what is with you and envelopes? Each time you hand me one it ends up changing my life one way or another. And why do you have four other envelopes in your hand? Well the other four envelopes are for Laura, Connor, Kim and Adam. Open them and see." I said as I handed Laura, Connor, Kim and Adam their envelopes. "We're going to Myrtle Beach? And Boston?" Jay asked as the rest of the group opened their envelopes. "We're going to Myrtle Beach, on a private plane?" Laura and Connor both asked. "Holy shit! We're going on vacation for seven days on a private plane!" Ruzek said. I explained the details of the trip, leaving out the business I had to do in Boston. The girls automatically started talking about what they were going to bring for clothes and shoes, while Adam and Connor began looking at golf courses on their phones.

Jay looked at me and Hank and quietly said, "Let's go have a quick chat. I know you're up to something." The three of us walked into the kitchen and I explained again the need to go to Boston. I wasn't doing anything illegal but I was going to have back-up in the form of him, Kim and Adam. Which was needed. Hank went into detail and said he would present it to the rest of the team on Monday morning, but before he left he reminded Jay that he had told Hank and I that he was "all in." "Halstead, it's mostly a vacation for you. You knew when we got Christine back that there was going to be times that she would have to put up more of a front in the family business to eventually bring it all crashing to the ground. You're going to have to support her. So if I was you, I would get my head out of my ass, and would take your beautiful woman back out there to where your friends are and plan a great trip to Myrtle Beach. We can take care of the Boston stuff on Monday at the District. I'll tell you this, she has come up with a great plan and if I was you I would support her without a doubt. She's starting to think like a cop and like a Mob Boss. It's actually pretty impressive" Hank said, before turning and hugging me telling me he would see me at the hospital the next day when he went to visit his grandchildren.

* * *

 **A/N: The last few chapters have been difficult to write. Not because I don't love the story, because I do. It is because of the emotional torture, stress and physical abuse that these characters have endured over the past few chapters. I wanted to write a chapter that was a little lighter and focused more on family bonding. The craziness that is Christine and Jay's life comes back in the next chapter. But, as Christine suspected, Jay is not going to have an easy time dealing with the her decisions and actions.**


	27. Bad Ass Boss Bitch

**JAY'S P.O.V.**

I know I told Christine and Voight that I was all in, but I don't know if I can go along with their plan. There's too much at stake now. There's Aiden and Quinn to think about. There's Christine's safety to think about. I'd like to think Voight has my family's best interest at heart but I'm not sold on his motives. As we sit here on the plane heading towards Myrtle Beach everyone is in vacation mode sipping on Mimosa's and Bloody Mary's. Everyone except for me and O'Malley. At least I didn't have to deal with the other two morons, Liam and Shamus O'Doyle. I couldn't talk to Christine about any of this. I had promised to support her when we got back together. When we get to Boston, I've made plans to talk to her Dad in private. I'm not only asking for his blessing to marry Christine but I'm also going to tell him the truth about what's been going on. I have a plan to end this once and for all.

* * *

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

I've gotten so good at keeping up pretenses lately that I was pretty sure no one knew how upset I was. Jay has barely spoken to me since Saturday. Today is Tuesday. He was pissed at Hank and beyond pissed at me. Why doesn't he understand that this is the way out for me? Then he also brought up how ridiculous it is that I'm flying everyone on a private jet. If he is this mad now he definitely isn't going to be happy when he finds out I'm buying a private plane for the company and after the deal in Boston is complete I'm buying two hotels in Ireland. The Hotel 30 Collection will be adding a Dublin hotel and a Galway hotel to the portfolio. Having hotels in Ireland will also give me access to some of the bosses that call the shots to the Irish Mob stateside...the people who control my Uncle Paddy. I wasn't going to bring him down. I am going to make him bring his Irish bosses down and force an immunity deal to be drawn up for him. I just couldn't tell anyone yet.

"Okay everyone! We should be on the ground in twenty minutes or so. I just want to say how excited I am to have you down in Myrtle Beach. We pretty much have the rest of the day to relax and then I planned a clambake tonight on the beach for dinner. Laura and I will be at the hotel tomorrow and Thursday from 9:00am – 2:00pm. I thought we could do low key dinners at the house those two nights and then we can hit up Molly's on Friday and Saturday. I really want to get a feel for the crowd and how the hotel is doing overall. I'd really like to know what you all think of it. With that being said, Kim you have the most important job out of all of us. You'll be spending the day tomorrow at the hotel's spa being spoiled and pampered why the guys golf at the resort's Championship Golf Course." I told them as the plane made the initial decent into Myrtle Beach.

We landed and loaded luggage and ourselves into three waiting SUV's. O'Malley, of course, rode with Jay and I. There was no tick in Jay's cheek so I decided to approach a light topic with him. "Babe, I'm so excited for you to see the house! The pictures I showed you are nothing compared to seeing it in person. If there's anything you don't love or want to change, let me know since we will hopefully be taking plenty of trips down here in the future. And the hotel...I haven't been there since March. I can't wait to see the renovations. It's going to be such a great few days. As much as I already miss Aiden & Quinn, I think we really need this getaway. I hope you enjoy this trip. Things will definitely be changing for us again at home in a few weeks when the twins are released from Chicago Med!" I said. Jay just looked at me and gave me a half-ass don't really want to talk to you kind of smile. Fuck this shit I thought to myself. "Jay, look you haven't spoken to me since Saturday. If you need to be mad at me then be mad at me on Monday morning when I have my meeting in Boston. If you can't get over it until then there's plenty of room in the guest house. I'm sure you and O'Malley will be comfortable being roommates. Now, we're here." I said as we drove through the gates leading up to the house. As we disembarked from the SUV, Jay grabbed my hand and using his thumb caressed the top of my hand. He smiled and softly told me I was right but he was worried. He then told me he would try to save his worry for Monday. We were interrupted by the others, who were in a little shock at the size of the beach house and the amount of property that went with it.

Later on as we headed down to the beach for the clambake everyone stopped to appreciate the set-up and planning that went into our private dinner. I brought in driftwood style tables and chairs and had them set family style for the six of us. The table was draped with a blue and white table runner and a row of small lanterns with LED candles going down the middle. There were four wooden posts on the outskirts of the table connected by white crisscross light bulbs. Ruzek, stopping and looking back and forth from the house to the beach said "Hey Halstead. Does it bother you that your girl is so rich and you're so not? I mean, Christine, let's face it. Jay's never going to help you add to your empire on his meager Detective's salary." "Jesus, Adam. How many beers did you have when I was in the shower?" Kim asked. "I'm just curious. What is your net worth anyway? I bet I could google it and find out." Adam continued oblivious to the tick that was showing in Jay's left cheek. "See Ruzek, that's where you're wrong. Jay has already added to my so-called empire more than you can imagine. He's the reason why I'm a Mom. I'd say Jay's contribution is priceless." I said as I walked over to Jay and kissed the man I love. "How sweet. Can we eat now? I'm starving." Connor said changing the subject as we walked over to the buffet. I had hired a Chef who cooked and prepared a true seafood clambake dinner consisting of: fresh oysters, New England clam chowder, shrimp, lobster, crab, mussels, roasted potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, fresh watermelon and banana pudding pie. The catering staff was very attentive making sure we had everything we needed thru the course of the dinner. We had plenty of good wine and beer to drink throughout the night. After dinner we walked back up to the patio and sat on the Adirondack chairs around the fire pit. We spent the rest of the night drinking, laughing and playing Cards Against Humanity.

As 11:00pm approached, I told Jay I wanted to show him something so we said goodnight to the group. I took him up to the master suite and we walked thru the bedroom onto the private deck. "Come sit with me." I said as I sat down on one of the cushioned chairs. "Jay when I ran away in January I came out here every night and thought about the last conversation we had. I'm only going to say this once and then Jay you need to tell me if you really are all in or not. I made the choice I did to keep you safe and if needed I'd make the same choice again. This isn't something I plan on being involved in for the rest of my life. There is an end in sight and then I hope to put this behind us. I need to know if you really are on board and really will support me. I can't keep going back and forth with you every other day or every other week. Especially after the twins come home."

Jay didn't say a word. Instead he handed me a glass of wine and we stood overlooking the pool with the beach and ocean behind it. Jay took a few sips and told me that we were going to have a truly amazing life and we were lucky to have found each other. As he lightly kissed me his hands made their way to the back of my neck to untie the top of my black and white halter dress. As the dress fell to the floor, exposing my almost completely naked body, Jay quickly moved my white lace thong to the side as he unzipped his shorts. He bent me over the railing, taking me, almost animal like from behind. As I felt the first orgasm pulsate thru my entire body I remember thinking it was a good thing our deck wasn't visible from down below or from any of the other rooms. I'm not a prude but I prefer to only put on a show for the man I love. A short while later as we laid in bed listening to the sound of the waves with the moonlight streaming in thru the open patio doors, Jay tipped my head up towards him. At that moment, as he looked at me with so much love in his eyes, he said "Christine, you and our children are my life. When I tell you I'm all in, I am. I will do whatever is needed to protect the three of you, forever. I love you Christine Brennan." "I love you too Jay Halstead." I replied.

The rest of our time in Myrtle Beach was wonderful. Laura and I only had to make minor changes to the hotel. I informed her we would need to hire a new General Manager and Assistant General Manager for the Chicago hotel because we wouldn't be able to oversee day to day operations with the three new hotels we would be opening by years end. It was a challenge and an opportunity we were both very excited about.

On Sunday Jay, Kim, Adam, O'Malley and I boarded the plane and made the two hour flight to Boston. Shamus, Liam and Luis (who Hank managed to locate) were waiting for us along with three SUV's at the hanger. We quickly loaded the luggage into the SUV's and made our way to the Four Seasons Hotel. O'Malley checked us in and we all headed up to the sixth floor. Jay and I, as did Kim and Adam, had a Garden Suite overlooking the beautiful Public Gardens. The other four men shared two rooms on the same floor. They would take turns guarding my door when we were in the hotel. To prove I was truly in charge I made a change to my Monday meeting without telling anyone. I informed Jay, Kim and Adam we would be heading to Mother Anna's in the North End for dinner. I know as soon as we were seated at the restaurant someone would get word to Anthony DiStefano that I was in town and in the North End. I would wait for him to approach me.

Knowing none of my hotel business attire would be appropriate for a meeting like this, after showering I left my hair curly and pulled it partially back from my face. My make-up was applied very carefully and I was hopeful that my smoky eyes deterred from the worried look in them. I slipped into a very tight pair of black skinny jeans with cuffed ankles, a gray strapless corset bustier style top, my gray suede peep-toe lace booties with a short-sleeve light black fitted summer jacket completing the look. As I walked out of the bedroom I saw Jay sitting on the couch watching tv. He looked up, the surprise and quick flash of lust written all over his face. "Damn." he said. "If you weren't my girlfriend I'd definitely try to pick you up and take you home from the bar. You're hot." I grinned and said "Well that's good because tonight you have to do just that." Moments later there was a knock on the door and Luis let Kim and Adam into our suite. They too were surprised by my appearance. "Car's downstairs whenever you're ready." Luis said. The four of us hopped into the SUV and were driven to the restaurant. We were seated on the outdoor patio at Mother Anna's, with my lieutenant and soldiers two tables over from us. I kept my guard up and other than one glass of wine I primarily stuck with water. We had just ordered dessert when a man approached our table. Jay and Adam noticed him coming right away and automatically stood to protect me. "That's far enough." Ruzek said. "It's okay Adam." I said standing. "Anthony, it's been a while. I hope your lovely wife, Rosa, is well. Why don't you join me, over at that table. Have a seat and I'll be there momentarily." I said motioning to the table on the other side of where my men sat. "What the fuck are you doing, Christine?" Jay said angrily. "I'm taking control of the situation and this is the way I'm doing it. I'm getting this shit done tonight. I need to show them who's in charge in Chicago and it's not Paddy. I need to take control Jay." I said. "How are we supposed to protect you? How are your guys supposed to protect you? You need to at least give us a heads up." he retorted. "If I told anyone word would have somehow gotten back to Paddy and I'm not ready for that. Why else would I have chosen a restaurant in the Italian section of Boston, as opposed to the Irish section? I'll be back in a bit. By the way, I'm sure you've noticed but DiStefano has five guys watching him. I'm sure he's got at least one or two more out front." I said getting up from the seat walking over to where the former Consigliere, the current head of the DiStefano Mafia family, was waiting for me.

He opened his mouth to speak as I sat down and I put my hand up to stop him. "I'm not here to listen to you Anthony. Your son made a grave mistake in choosing the Cartel over me, my family and your family. That betrayal can not go unpunished. Amends need to be made. The only reason I didn't kill Joseph is because of the hospitality your wife showed me when I stayed with your family all those years ago. I know it would have destroyed her if I had killed your son. That's why I chose to shoot him in the legs instead. I will tell you what I am offering opposed to letting a war begin between our families in both Boston and Chicago. You will turn all of your Chicago business over to me. All of it...the drug running, the weapon sales, the girls and the gambling. I will now control all of Chicago. You will also pay a fee in Boston. To continue your operations here you will now pay Paddy McGuire a protection fee of $125,000.00 per quarter. Those are my terms. If they're not acceptable to you then I suggest you let your wife know that it is your fault your son was killed during the middle of the night in his cell at MCC Chicago. You have until 10:00am tomorrow morning to get back to me. O'Malley here will provide you with a phone number you may call when you reach your decision. Now I am going to insist you and your escorts leave so I may enjoy the rest of my meal with my friends. Nice to see you again Anthony. I look forward to hearing from you." I finished as I stood up without sparing him another glance and walked back to where Jay was glaring at me. Kim and Adam didn't look much happier with me. I sat down and sipped my wine as I waited to pay the bill. Without a word to the three of them, after I finished my glass, I walked out of the restaurant and into the waiting SUV.

No one spoke on the way back to the hotel. Adam and Kim went back to their suite and Jay decided to go for a walk. He didn't want anything to do with me at the moment. Thirty minutes later there was a knock on my door and O'Malley walked in and handed me the phone. It was Anthony DiStefano. He agreed to my terms as long as I could guarantee safety for Joseph in prison. That would be easy enough thanks to the connections I had from both the O'Doyles and from Hank. Holy shit! I couldn't quite explain how I was feeling. It was almost exhilarating. I went head to head with a Mafia Boss and I came out on top. I showed him who was the Bad Ass Boss Bitch!

* * *

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

I'm going to fucking kill her was all I could think as I hopped in an Uber and took the twenty minute drive to Michael Brennan's house. "Mr. Brennan. Thank you for seeing me so late. I know we're going to see each other tomorrow at the game, but I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things in private before the game..." I started. I made the man very happy when I asked for his blessing to propose to and marry Christine, but then I almost destroyed him when I told him what his daughter and brother-in-law had been up to recently. I told him my plan to get Christine out of it and he was on board. As I got in another Uber to head back to the hotel, I called the one person I knew could help me take down Christine's Uncle and the Irish Mob. Hopefully that person will be able to do it without putting Christine in any danger or putting her behind bars. Taking a deep breath I scrolled through my contacts until the name came up on my phone. "Hello?" a breathy voice said in greeting. A voice I hadn't heard in almost two years. "Erin. It's Jay. I need your help." I said.

* * *

 **A/N: Christine got a taste of what control felt like. Yes she has control in her hotel business, but this was a whole other feeling for her. A feeling she's not going to want to give up very easily. And she is not going to be happy when she meets Erin Lindsay down the road. Christine's life, the happily ever after she imagined with Jay after the twins come home from the hospital is not going to be easily obtained. She's going to have to fight for her children and for Jay, if that's what she really wants.**

 **Hope you all enjoy and remember please follow the story so you get the updates when I post multiple chapters in less than 24 hours!**


	28. Misconceptions & Deceptions

FLASHBACK

JAY'S P.O.V.

"Jay? Are you okay? You know I'll help in whatever way I can." Erin said. "Erin, I can't get into detail now but I need you to come to Chicago. I wouldn't ask but I am desperate and have no one else to turn to. I need to also ask that you don't tell Hank that I contacted you. I know I'm asking a lot and not giving you any details but it's a conversation we need to have in person. Please Erin." I said, hating the fact I was bringing her into this. "When do you need me there?" Erin asked. "Can you be here next Monday?" I replied. After telling me she would be here and will text me her flight info, Erin ended the call.

PRESENT DAY

JAY'S P.O.V.

Here I am, eight days later, at O'Hare waiting for Erin's plane to land. I had taken the day off and hoped Christine didn't stop by the District for any reason. I decided not to tell her I was taking the day off. There would be too many questions that I wasn't ready to answer. I stood at Gate H-18 in Terminal 3, the same gate Christine had been scheduled to fly out of on December 23rd, and looked for Erin as passengers disembarked from the plane. "Hi." Erin said as she approached me, giving me a hug. "Hi. Thanks for coming. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. You look good, Er. Really good. Life in the Big Apple must agree with you." I replied. We walked thru the terminal and headed out to my truck. "Where are you staying?" I asked as I pulled out of the short-term parking lot. "I booked a room at The Hotel 30. I heard great things about the hotel. Have you been there?" Erin replied with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her lips. "Funny girl. I'm guessing Voight told you a little about Christine." I said. "Yeah, he did. Sounds like you've had quite the year. Congrats, tho, on becoming a Dad." she replied.

I drove Erin to her hotel, The Drake, and filled her in on exactly what has been going on. I told her about my plan and the conversation I had with Christine's Dad. I left out the part about asking for his blessing to marry Christine. I didn't think that was something Erin needed to know. "Erin, you work for the Feds. I need this to become a Federal case. I also need to make sure none of this blows back on Christine. I can give you Paddy McGuire, Anthony DiStefano and Finn O'Doyle. I just need you to guarantee Christine won't be touched. I said after I finished telling her everything. "Jay, I'll do the best I can but I can't guarantee anything until I dive into the case. I'll head to the District tomorrow to let Hank know this is now a Federal case. Are you sure about this Jay? Really sure you want to go down this road? This may cause unrepairable damage to your relationship with Christine. What about your kids?" Erin asked. After telling her I was doing this for Christine and the twins I told her I would see her the next day.

Tuesday started off like any other normal day. Christine and I spent an hour in the NICU with Aiden and Quinn before I headed to the District. The morning was spent chasing down a dead-end lead with Ruzek before I returned to Med at lunchtime. I headed back to the District around 1:30pm and Sargent Platt stopped me as I scanned my palm and opened the gate to go upstairs. "Halstead. Need to give you a heads up." she said as she walked over to me. "What's up Sarge?" I asked as I held the gate open. "The Feds are in the building. Two agents from New York's FBI office are upstairs talking to Hank. One of the agents is Erin Lindsay." she said. I didn't have to pretend to be surprised because I was. Erin never mentioned having someone else join her. Shit, maybe this was a mistake I thought to myself as I climbed the stairs. I reached to top of the staircase and saw my Unit talking to Erin. "Hey." I said. "Platt told me you were here on my way up. Good to see you, Er. Welcome back to Chicago." "Jay." she replied smiling as she walked over to me. "It's really good to see you. I've missed you." she said smiling and flashing her dimples before drawing me in for a hug. She then introduced me to her partner, Agent Jeff Baker. "Okay, listen up." Voight said walking out of his office with Al behind him. "Lindsay and Baker are here to look into the Irish Mob and the Italian Mafia that are expanding from Boston to New York and here, to Chicago. They'll be working out of Intelligence and we are going to assist them any way we can. Rixton, Halstead and Al I need to see you in my office now." He finished as he turned around and walked into his office.

The three of us followed Voight into his office and immediately I was blamed for bringing the Feds to Chicago. "What the fuck did you do Halstead? Do you know the jeopardy you put Christine in? What happened to our plan of keeping this operation in house? What happened to being all in? What happened to the promises you made to the woman you love, to the mother of your children?" Hank asked angrily. "I don't know what you're talking about. I promised to protect Christine and our children. Every decision I make every single day has their safety and best interests at heart. Can you honestly say the same?" I replied, my voice becoming more exasperated with every word I said. "Wait. Let's just take a minute here before anyone says or does something they'll regret." Al said taking a step forward and placing himself between Voight and I. "Take all the minutes you need. I have work to do." I said walking out of the office.

"Hey Halstead! We're all going to Molly's tonight to celebrate Lindsay's return to Chicago. You in?" Atwater asked. "Yeah. I'll swing by for a bit after I see the twins." I replied as I sat at my desk. "You know I'd love to meet your children. They're beautiful. Your son looks just like you." Erin said as she sat on the corner of my desk and picked up the framed photo we had taken when we returned from Boston last week. It was our first family photo. "I don't think that's such a good idea Erin. Other than family Christine doesn't want too many people around the twins...especially strangers. I'm Quinn's Godmother and I try to limit my visits to twice a week until she and Aiden are settled at home." Burgess said, surprising all of us. Surprising us because she made it clear by her tone and the unsaid, underlying words who she was loyal to, and it wasn't to Erin or me. Her loyalty was to Christine. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There's something about Christine that makes all of us want to protect her, even though she clearly can take care of herself. "Huh. Maybe another time then." Erin said to me as she put the picture back and gave my hand a squeeze. My eyes widened as I saw Kim take a step forward. Thankfully, Adam noticed and pulled Burgess into the break room, closing the door behind them.

After work I headed to Chicago Med. This visit was always my favorite visit of the day. Christine and I would feed the twins and before we put them back in their incubators for the night we would sit in the two rocking chairs, each of us holding one of the twins, while I read to them. It was an hour I looked forward to every night. Christine was already there when I arrived. "Hey babe. How was your day?" I asked walking over to give her a kiss. She turned and had me stopping in my tracks as her eyes went cold and turned glacial blue, the color they turned when she was angry. Uh-oh, I thought wondering who called her, Kim or Voight. "I've already fed them and changed them. I'm leaving now. I think you should stay somewhere else tonight. I don't want you stepping one foot into the house. I'm sure you won't have a problem finding a warm bed. From what I hear Erin was overly attentive to you today. Not only did I have to hear it from Kim but then Hank came to see me at the hotel. He told me you called Erin and she's here to investigate me. What the fuck, Jay? How could you do this to me...to us...to our family?" She asked, her disappointment and anger evident in her tone as she gave me the evil eye. She then turned and walked out of the room without giving me the chance to deny or explain anything.

After reading to Aiden and Quinn I left the hospital an hour later and headed to Molly's. I was surprised and not happy at all to see Christine at the bar having a drink with Kelly Severide. I knew she was mad so I let her be and instead headed over to the two tables occupied by my Unit and Erin. "So this can't be awkward at all for you, huh Halstead?" Ruzek asked as I sat down on the empty stood in between Erin and Kim. "Seriously, Adam? Just leave him alone." Kim said. "Christine is gorgeous, Jay. I can see why you're attracted to her. I hate to admit it but I'm a little jealous." Erin said. "Looks like Severide is giving her a lot of attention, as usual, tonight." Atwater said. "I'd rather not talk about Kelly. We all know how I feel about Christine's friendship with him and it is still a touchy subject between the two of us." I said. "Why don't you introduce me to her?" Erin asked as she stood up. Oh shit, this is not going to be good I thought to myself as I followed her to the bar. I decided to stand back as Erin took the lead, just like old times.

KIM'S P.O.V.

"Could she be anymore obvious and he be any more of an idiot?" I asked Adam, Atwater, Rixton, Antonio and Al as we watched Jay follow Erin towards the bar where Christine sat talking to Kelly. "Halstead did this to himself when he called Lindsay and asked her to come back to Chicago." Al replied. "What? Jay would never reach out to Erin. He has no reason to. He..." I stopped as I heard rasied voices coming from across the room. I stood up ready to make sure my friend was okay when Adam pulled me back down onto my stool. "Kim, you can't protect her from this one. You need to let it play out and just be there when she needs you. " Adam said softly as he kissed me. I knew he was trying to distract me and at times I would let him get away with it but not tonight.

JAY'S P.O.V.

"Hey Kelly. How are you?" Erin said as she tapped Severide on the shoulder. "Erin Lindsay! I heard you were back in Chicago. It's been a while." he said as he stood, giving Erin a quick hug. Without missing a beat, Erin turned and introduced herself to Christine. It suddenly felt like all eyes in the bar were on us and the noise level was a lot more subdued than normal. "I've heard a lot about you. Hank speaks very highly of you." Erin said holding out her hand. Christine looked at Erin's hand and then at Erin for a moment. She ignored the extended hand and said "I could say the same about you. It obviously says something about a person's integrity and character when they have someone like Hank Voight so loyal and protective of them. I'm only going to say this once Erin. You broke Jay's heart when you left for New York without saying goodbye. I hope you haven't come here to try to win him back or make up for lost time or some other bullshit like that. I'm telling you right now, he's off limits to you on a personal level." I'll be honest I was completely shocked at Christine's bluntness. Manners tend to get the best of her and she is usually a little more tactful when it comes to getting her point across. I was shocked and extremely turned on. This side of my girl was really fucking hot.

"Really? Is that so? I find that interesting considering you told him to sleep somewhere else tonight." Erin replied. "Jesus Erin. What the fuck? Why would you repeat that?" I asked in disbelief. Christine looked even more pissed and probably more than a little hurt that I aired our dirty laundry to my ex-girlfriend. This was not good.

KELLY'S P.O.V.

Jesus! This is nuts and kind of hot I thought to myself as I watched Christine and Erin engage in a not so amicable conversation. Could Halstead be any more of a fucking idiot? Christine is the most amazing woman I have ever met. It's only a matter of time before he pushes her away for good. And when he breaks her heart, I'll be there to pick up the pieces. I'll be the one who will take care of her and love her the way she deserves to be loved.

JAY'S P.O.V.

Before I could say another word, I watched in disbelief as she stood up saying, "Kelly, I'm ready to go. Want to come back to MY house and have a drink there?" "Christine..." I said but before I could say more she looked at me with those beautiful eyes and I realized it was like looking into the eyes of a stranger. There was no emotion reflecting from them. "Don't say another word Jay. You brought this on yourself. I hope you and Erin have a good time tonight. By the way Erin, I understand you contacted my office today to set up a time to talk. Here's my lawyer's card, you can contact him and he will let you know when and if I'm available." she said as she headed to the door. Kelly looked at me with a smug look on his face. A smug look I wanted to wipe off his face. I wanted to beat the shit out of him.

KIM'S P.O.V.

"Distracting me isn't going to work this time Ruzek." I said as I headed to intercept Christine on her way to the door. "You okay? I didn't hear everything but I heard some of it." I said as I met Christine at the door. "No, Kim I'm really not. I feel like I've been stabbed in the heart and punched in the stomach at the same time." She said as tears threatened to overflow onto her cheeks. "Hey, none of that here. If she sees you shed a tear she'll know she's getting to you. You're stronger than that." Adam said to Christine, coming up behind me. "Why don't you have O'Malley drive you home and I'll come check on you in a bit?" I suggested. After being told she just wanted to be alone I watched her walk out the door with Kelly following behind her.

KELLY'S P.O.V.

I paid the tab and smiled as I saw the look of shock and anger pass over Halstead's face. I walked over towards the door where Christine was having what looked to be an intense conversation with Burgess and Ruzek. "Everything okay here?" I asked as I ran my hand down the back of her hair letting it rest on the small of her back. "Yeah, Kim and Adam were just saying goodnight." She replied as she smiled back at me...a smile I could tell was forced and didn't quite meet her eyes.

We walked outside and she stopped when we reached the bottom of the steps. As she grabbed my arm she said, "Actually Kelly, would you mind a raincheck on those drinks? I don't feel all that great. I really just want to go home and go to bed." "Of course. You good to make it home?" I asked as I walked her to her car, noticing her gorgeous porcelain skin was whiter than normal and she was shaking. "Yeah, I'm going to have O'Malley drive." she replied as her giant of a bodyguard got out of the Range Rover. "Thanks for everything Kelly." she said standing on her tiptoes and giving me a friendly kiss on the cheek before she got in the passenger seat.

As I watched the Range Rover disappear down the street I started thinking that maybe I should reach out to Erin. She's obviously still in love with Jay. Maybe Erin and I can work together in moving their relationship in the direction we want...Erin will end up with Jay and I'll finally be with Christine.

KIM'S P.O.V.

"Kim don't do it..." Adam said as I turned and grabbed Jay's arm, preventing him from following Erin back to the table. "Are you really this fucking stupid, Jay? Please tell me you're not. Because from where I'm standing it looks like you're a complete fucking moron. Do you not realize you are pushing her out of your arms and directly into Kelly's open arms? If you break Christine's heart, after everything she's done to protect you, after everything she's sacrificed I'll never forgive you." I hissed at him. "Adam, I'm ready to head home. Let's go." I said walking over to the table. I said goodnight to everyone, with the exception of Erin and Jay. As I headed to the door, I grinned as I heard Al say to Adam, "You better watch out Ruzek. Looks like some of Christine's chutzpah is rubbing off on Burgess. Something tells me you're going to get an earful tonight."

JAY'S P.O.V.

I woke up the next morning realizing right away that I wasn't in my bed. I then realized the person next to me isn't Christine. I was in bed with Erin. Shit! Fuck! I thought to myself as I looked at the clock and saw it was only 5:30am. As I quietly slipped out of bed and got dressed the memories from the night before came rushing back to me. After Christine left the bar with Kelly and Burgess tore into me I decided to skip the beer and go for the Jameson. And there had been lots and lots of Jameson. One by one the rest of the Unit left until it was Erin and I alone at the bar. We kept drinking until it was last call. Erin invited me back to her hotel for a nightcap which resulted in a few more glasses of Jameson in her suite. The rest of the night was blurry but I had flashes of memories of Erin...of Erin crawling onto my lap and kissing me as she straddled me...of Erin telling me she loved me and wanted me back...of Erin getting upset when I told her I was in love with Christine. I needed to get home and see Christine before we went to the hospital to visit the twins. I left Erin a note telling her I would see her at the District. God, what have I done I wondered to myself as I drove home. None of this looks good. I may have destroyed the future I envisioned having with Christine and our children. All because I had been jealous and gotten drunk. I turned onto our street and made a right driving thru the gates and up the driveway. I felt sick to my stomach. I hit the garage door opener and as I pulled into my spot in the three car garage I noticed Christine's Range Rover wasn't there. I raced into the house and everything looked as it did on Tuesday morning before we left for the hospital. I couldn't help but wonder if she slept at Severide's. I quickly showered, hopped back in my truck and headed back downtown towards Chicago Med.

I headed up to the NICU and as I approached the twins room I saw Christine through the window. She looked stunning dressed in a knee-length short sleeve silk dress the same color blue as her eyes. She had left her hair curly and as she turned towards the window, with Quinn in her arms, I noticed she looked sad and exhausted. "You're here early." I said as I walked into the room. "I couldn't sleep last night. I've been here since 5:00am. Where did you stay last night?" She replied as she placed Quinn back in the incubator. Because we made a promise to each other, after she had been abducted by DiStefano, Hailey and El Gato that we wouldn't lie to each other, I told her the truth. "I stayed at Erin's hotel." I replied, honestly. "Did you sleep with her?" she asked. "Did you sleep with Kelly?" I asked in return not realizing I didn't answer her question. "Jay, I've never cheated on you. Can you honestly say the same?" Christine replied with doubt in her eyes.

ERIN'S P.O.V.

I woke up with a massive hangover. I reached for Jay and found his side of the bed to be cold. He left a note on the pillow saying he would see me later at the District. Two years ago Jay never would have left my bed without waking me up for a game of scrabble before work. Guess the rumors I heard were true...Christine has quite the hold on Jay. That's something I'm going to have to work on. I'm still in love with Jay. I've never stopped loving him. I'm going to fight to win him back because I'd like to believe he hasn't stopped loving me either.


	29. Betrayed

**CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

"Jay, I've never cheated on you. Can you honestly say the same?" I asked him, already having an idea what the answer will be. Already knowing my heart will be broken by his answer. Before he could respond Nat walked into the room. "I have good news." she said with a smile on her face. "Aiden and Quinn can go home in two days! Their last set of test results came back better than I hoped. As of 9:00am Friday morning they will no longer be residents of Chicago Med!" "Really Nat!? Two weeks early? You're sure they're okay?" I asked excitedly not fully believing what I was hearing. When she confirmed it again I said "Thank you Nat. Thank you for taking such great care of our babies."

Ignoring Jay, I pulled out my iPhone and texted my Dad letting him know the good news. I then sent a large group text to Hank, Laura, Connor, Kim, Ruzek, Gabby, Matt, Will, Nat, Sylvie, Stella, Kelly, Cruz, April, Ethan, Trudy, Mouch, Kevin, Al and Rixton saying "The twins are breaking out of Med on Friday morning! Welcome home party on Saturday at 5:00pm. I expect Aiden and Quinn's Godparents, pseudo Aunts and Uncles and Grandpa Hank to be there!" I then turned to Jay and asked him to follow me back to the house so we could talk before he went to work.

As I got into my car, with the ever-present O'Malley in the passenger seat, I used the Range Rover's hands free option to call Laura. I told her I would be working from home for the remainder of the week. My next phone call was to Mary, the twins Nanny who Jay and I hired two weeks before. I may have neglected telling Jay that Mary had been a recommendation from my Uncle Paddy. I figured if Paddy trusted her to watch my children then I would as well. I told Mary the twins were coming home earlier than anticipated and asked her to start work on Saturday. My third call was to Donna, the woman who ran the cleaning service I used. Normally they come every other Friday but I asked her to come on Thursday this week. I wanted to make sure everything was spotless and clean before the twins came home.

"You know Boss, with the twins coming home on Friday, you might want to consider hiring a bodyguard for them. Just someone to watch over them and the Nanny when you and I aren't there." O'Malley said from the passenger seat as I turned onto my street. "I'm glad you brought that up because I was going to talk to you about that a little later. There's only two people I trust to keep the twins safe when Jay and I aren't around. That's you and Luis. I'd like you to take alternating shifts for the time being. Think about it and let me know." I said as I hit the button in my car that opens the gate. Jay pulled in behind me and parked next to me in the garage. He followed me into the house and we sat in the living room. "So, I have a couple of things I need to talk to you about. I'm heading to Ireland the day after Aiden and Quinn's christening. I'm looking at buying two hotels there and I want to take them with me. I've filled out the expedited passport applications for them. I just need you to sign them as well. We'll be gone for two weeks and I'll have Mary, O'Malley and Luis traveling with me." I said. Surprisingly he signed the paperwork without an issue.

Before I could continue, O'Malley walked into the living room and informed us there were four unmarked cop cars at the gate. I looked at Jay and he told me he had no idea what was going on. We walked out the front door to see Erin getting out of one of the cars. "Agent Lindsay. Is there something I can do for you?" I asked as I walked over to where she was standing. I glanced at Jay and saw the tick in his cheek. Hmmm...he wasn't happy and obviously wasn't part of Erin's plan. "This is a warrant to search the house and the property." Erin said smugly as she shoved a piece of paper into my hands. "On what grounds?" I asked. "Extortion, collusion, racketeering and the murder of Detective Hailey Upton." she replied. "What the fuck, Erin?" Jay asked in disbelief. "We never discussed a warrant for Christine's house. I asked you to leave her out of it when I asked you to come to Chicago." he said. "You need to pick a side Jay. You can either help me or be arrested for obstruction." she said to him.

"What the fuck, Jay? You just admitted that you brought her to Chicago. I really can't believe you." I said as I quickly texted Hank and Rixton. The message said "Erin's here with a warrant tearing apart my house with a team. Get here now and put a stop to this before my C.I. cover is blown to O'Malley and the others."

"What the fuck?" O'Malley exclaimed. "The Detective was in on this? This is not good." I turned to him, worried that my cover was about to be blown and gave him instructions, "Not a word. They're here for me, not for you. Text Paddy and let him know what's going on. Take the guys and head to Finn's. Stay there till you hear from me." "Boss, I shouldn't leave you. That bitch has crazy eyes." O'Malley said. "Just do what I tell you and leave now before they hold you here." I replied. I held my breath as he retreated down the driveway and hopped into the waiting car with Luis, Liam and Shamus.

"Does Hank know you're here with this bogus warrant? Were you that curious to see the house where Jay's been living? Where he's been making love to me every night? You didn't need a warrant for that Erin. I would have been happy to show you." I said, knowing I was antagonizing her. "She stays out here." Erin said to an agent as she walked thru my front door. "The master bedroom is on the second floor, down the end of the hall. I'm sure you'll want to check out that room for yourself." I called out after her.

"Christine, stop. You're not helping the situation at all. But before this goes any further I do need to tell you something. I never had sex with Erin. Yes, I stayed in her hotel room last night and she wanted to but other than her kissing me once that was all that happened. We did not have sex." Jay told me softly. "Jay, you need to walk away from me right now before I say or do something that I might end up regretting." I said turning and walking away from him. How had this day gone from shitty to wonderful back to a complete shit show in just a matter of hours, I wondered as I waited to hear back from Hank and Rixton. "Christine..." I heard as footsteps approached. "Get the fuck away from me Jay. You may not have cheated on me and betrayed me in the physical sense, but by brining Erin back to Chicago you betrayed me in a completely different way. You made promises to me and to Hank that you went back on. All this is happening because of you. You brought her back here and now she's determined to put me in jail. It's either the Cartel or Erin that's going to be the end of me. I'll never forgive you for any of this." I said vehemently.

Twenty minutes later the entire Intelligence Unit pulled into my driveway. "Where is she?" Hank asked as he walked up to me. "Inside somewhere. This is bullshit Hank. You never told me this would be a possibility when I became a C.I. Look at these fucking charges that she said I'm guilty of and that's how she got the warrant. Murder!? I thought I was cleared of Hailey's death! Everyone agreed it was self defense. This shit can't happen again, especially not with the twins coming home. Fix this and get her out of my house now!" I said indignantly as I handed him the warrant and walked away from the group.

 **FLASHBACK**

 **HANK'S P.O.V.**

After I received the good news about Aiden and Quinn's homecoming, I sat at my desk trying to decide what to give the twins for their welcome home gift. Money has always been my go-to gift but Christine was a millionaire so I didn't think that was probably the best idea. I then thought about something they could use in the future. Something that Camille and I used on our wedding day. I decided to give Aiden the silver cufflinks I wore that day and Quinn the pearl and diamond earrings Camille had worn when she became my wife. It would be their first family heirlooms.

I looked up in surprise as Rixton burst in my office without knocking. "Sarge, we have a problem. Check your most recent text from Christine." He said. Jesus Christ, I thought to myself as I got up from my desk and walked out into the bullpen. "Where's Halstead?" I asked. "He said he'd be in a little later. What's up, Sarge?" Atwater asked. "Erin and a team of Feds showed up at Christine's with a warrant. Let's roll before this escalates and further and her cover as a C.I. is blown or before she and Erin go at it and Christine gets herself arrested." I said as they followed me downstairs. As I started the drive towards Christine's Gold Coast neighborhood I couldn't help but think about how disappointed I am in Jay. He is destroying the best thing to come into his life. When Erin showed up at the District yesterday I had a feeling that it wasn't a coincidence. Even though Halstead denied it, I had Al pull his phone records. I had proof that he called Erin and exchanged text messages with her.

 **REAL TIME**

 **HANK'S P.O.V.**

"Erin, what the hell have you done?" I asked in disbelief as I looked around the disaster that now was Christine's bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and just looked at me. I turned quickly and walked back up the hall stopping outside of the twins' bedrooms. Please God don't let them be destroyed as well. Christine had spent the past six weeks designing the nurseries. I opened the door to Aiden's room and breathed a sigh of relief. The room hadn't been touched. The large bedroom, with a navy blue carpet, was painted light gray with a royal blue trim. Fire trucks, police cars and ambulances were painted on the walls. The mahogany crib would one day be turned into a full-size bed but for now was placed under red, white and blue wooden letters hanging on the wall spelling Aiden's name. The mattress in the crib was covered with a sheet that had police cars all over it. The blanket, folded neatly over the end of the crib, had the CFD logo on it. The mobile hanging over the crib had fire trucks, police cars and ambulances that lit up. The mahogany changing table and rocking chair were in one piece as well. The matching bookcase held a variety of children's books, toys and pictures. Christine had arranged a display on the top shelf of pictures of her and Jay, the two of them with the kids and the people she considered family – the Intelligence Unit, the team from Chicago Med and from Firehouse 51. I checked the attached bathroom and was thankful to see it too was undisturbed.

I walked out of the room to see Jay opening the door to Quinn's room across the hall. The beautiful room that had been furnished for a princess had been untouched as well. The pale lavender walls with a light pink trim and deep purple carpet gave an airy feel to the room that had princess castles, unicorns and butterflies painted on the wall. The white wooden crib sat under white, pink and purple wooden letters spelling Quinn's name. The white wooden changing table, rocking chair and bookcase were all undisturbed as well.

"Thank God the kids rooms were not touched. Have you seen the master bedroom and her office?" I said to Jay. When he said no I motioned for him to follow me. "What the fuck Erin? You destroyed the bedroom and Christine's office? Why would you do this?" Jay asked Erin, almost in disbelief, as I stood to the side. "I didn't do anything you don't do whenever you toss a suspect's home. I did my job." she said. "Erin, Christine isn't a suspect. She's one of us. She may not be a cop but she's part of this family." I said as I heard something crashing to the ground from downstairs. "What the fuck was that? Erin, call off your team now. I'll meet you back at the District in a couple of hours and we can walk thru the operation I've been running with Christine as the C.I. Halstead, get her out of here." I instructed.

After they left, I took another look around Christine's bedroom and shook my head. The bed would need to be replaced entirely. Jesus, the way it looked she'll probably end up buying a new bedroom set. Shaking my head I walked downstairs and called to the rest of the team. "Al, I need you to do a sweep. Make sure the Feds didn't plant anything. Also make sure that Paddy didn't have O'Malley plant anything either. Dawson and Rixton, go talk to your buddies in Vice and the Gang Unit. Make sure there's no retaliation coming out of Canaryville for this. Burgess, Atwater and Ruzek I need you to start cleaning up a little in here. Text me a list and pictures of exactly what's been broken." I instructed as I walked outside. "Where you headed Sarge?" Ruzek asked. "To take a very pissed off woman furniture shopping and then to go deal with a very pissed off FBI agent." I replied.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

Two days later I arrived at Chicago Med at 7:00am. I had been too excited to sleep and also hadn't gotten used to the new king size bed Hank had insisted on buying me. It was too big and too lonely without Jay. As mad as I was at Jay I would never deny him the opportunity to be here when the twins were released. I also told him he could stay in one of the guest rooms for the weekend. It would give him the chance to be with the twins. By 9:00am we had signed all the necessary paperwork and each of us holding a twin in a baby carrier headed out to my car. After attaching the carriers to the car seat bases and making sure they were securely strapped in I told Jay we would see him back at the house. As O'Malley climbed into the driver's seat and Luis into the passenger seat, I settled myself in the back seat between my two babies.

Hank came over a few hours after we had gotten home. I wasn't sure if he was there to play referee, if needed, or if he was there strictly for the kids. I know he wasn't happy with Jay on a professional or personal level. To be perfectly honest, according to Kim, most of the Unit wasn't too happy with Jay on a professional level. He put the case and me, their C.I., in all sorts of danger when he brought Erin back to Chicago. I instructed Jay and Hank that there would be no shop talk this weekend. It was all about the kids. Everything else could wait until Monday.

It was heaven on earth to have Aiden and Quinn at home. They slept for ten hours their first night home. After feeding them on Saturday morning Jay informed me he had to go to work for a few hours but would be back before everyone arrived for the party. After he left I got a taste of what life will be like as a single parent. Well a single parent with a Nanny. I had a feeling Mary was going to be a real lifesaver. On Saturday afternoon I dressed Quinn in a light pink, lavender and white dress with pink tights. I put Aiden in a pair of blue jeans with a white long sleeve shirt that had a fire truck on it. We headed downstairs where the Banquet and Kitchen teams from the hotel were handling everything for the party. "I can't thank you enough for doing this. It's been a chaotic couple of days and I think by hosting this party I bit off a little more than I can chew." I said to Jenna, the Banquet Captain, and Nick, the Sous Chef. "It's our pleasure. We're just glad the twins are finally home." Nick said.

I walked out back and was very happy with the way the yard looked. I ordered enough 8 x 30 tables and chairs to seat twenty-two family style. I had selected ivory lamour linen and fruitwood chivari chairs with ivory cushions. On the patio there was a fire pit surrounded by the wicker rocking chairs with red cushions. Around the inground pool I had tiki torches and the outdoor wicker seating vignettes set up. The outdoor bar was fully stocked and one of the bartenders from the hotel would be manning the it for the evening. I was doing a final walk through of the back yard and the kitchen when O'Malley went to let the first guest in just after 4:00pm. "Kelly, I'm so glad you're here." I said giving him a hug. "Come out back. The twins are out there with Mary. And that's where the beer is." I said leading him outside. "Where can I put these?" he asked holding up two gift bags. "How sweet! I'll put them inside." Mary said as she handed Quinn to me. Aiden was hanging out in his automatic swing cooing to himself. "God, she's beautiful." he said taking Quinn out of my arms. "Hey gorgeous! You're gonna be a heartbreaker just like your Mom when you grow up, aren't you? Yes, you are with those eyes. I bet you'll have her smile too." he said as he held Quinn and she stared up at him while she drooled. "I guess what they say is true, females of all ages love Kelly Severide." I said teasing him as I handed him a cold beer.

Before I knew it the backyard was filled with friends and family. As always I made sure there was plenty to drink and plenty to eat. The hotel staff did a wonderful job making sure everyone had what they wanted. I was talking to Hank and Al as I fed Aiden just after 8:00pm and that's when I realized the backyard had gone oddly quiet. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I heard Kim exclaim as she fed Quinn. I turned to see Jay and Erin walking out onto the back patio. I handed Aiden and his bottle to Hank before walking over to Jay and Erin. "In the kitchen now." I said leading the way back inside. "I don't know what the fuck the two of you are up to but unless you have another warrant Agent Lindsay you are not welcome in my home. I'm going to insist you leave now." I said. "Christine, just hear her out..." Jay started to say. I turned to him and said "What were you thinking Jay? What about your kids? Good to see you kept your word and were here for your children all weekend. Not sure what business you had going on considering your entire Unit is here and you're just arriving now with Erin. I'm so over this." I looked at him with tears of embarrassment and hurt in my eyes before I walked upstairs to my bedroom.

It took a few minutes but I pulled myself together and headed back outside. Everyone was speaking in hushed tones and looking at me with sympathy and pity. It was really uncomfortable so people began to leave. Shit, this just sucks I thought to myself. I was then left alone with Mary and the twins. "You can call it a night Mary. I'll get them to bed. Thank you for everything. I'll see you on Monday morning." I said. By 9:00pm the twins were asleep. I grabbed the baby monitor and headed back out to the fire pit with a bottle of wine. A short time later O'Malley, who lives in the guest suite above my garage, informed me Kelly was at the gate. I told him to let Kelly in and send him out back. "I'm okay Kelly. Promise." I told him before he even asked. "I appreciate you being so concerned but I really am okay." I assured him. "Well if you're really okay hopefully I won't have to apologize for doing this." he said as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

Don't get me wrong, it was a really good kiss but as Kelly held me in his arms words that Jay said almost nine months ago ran thru my mind. I deserve to be in a relationship with someone who wouldn't put my life in danger. Not only that but I was done with this crazy life. I want to be a Mom and a Hotelier...not a Mom, a Hotelier and a Mob Boss. I was going to betray my Uncle Paddy and Hank with the decision I made when Kelly was kissing me. I'm getting out of the business. It has brought too much drama into my life. I'm heading to Ireland in one week with my babies and am starting to consider staying longer than the two weeks I had originally planned. Kelly, probably sensing I wasn't 100% into it, broke the kiss, sat down and pulled me onto his lap. "So, do I need to apologize?" He asked. "Not at all." I replied and as I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him in for another kiss I couldn't help but wonder if this was a mistake.

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

I decided to go back to the house after I knew everyone was gone. I need to explain to Christine that I had brought Erin by so she could apologize. I spent the day with Erin and we came to an agreement that we would be friends. I don't think she was overjoyed but she said she would back off Christine and focus on Paddy, DiStefano and Finn O'Doyle. I drove thru the gates and noticed Severide's car in the driveway. I walked out to the back patio and that's when I saw Christine on his lap kissing him. I'm done, I couldn't help but think bitterly as I stood there in shock watching them. She knows how I feel about him and there they are, apparently together, when my side of the bed wasn't even cold. Talk about being betrayed.

* * *

 **A/N: I want to thank you all for the reviews on the last chapter (Misconceptions & Deceptions). I personally love Kim and was happy that she was sticking up for Christine because she thought Christine needed someone in her corner. This chapter takes a little bit of a different turn and for once it doesn't end with Christine being the innocent one. Things are going to take quite a turn in the next chapter when she heads to Ireland. Hope you all enjoy!**


	30. Ireland & Broken Hearts

**CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

Two months and a half months later it was the night before Thanksgiving in the United States, but in Ireland, for most people, it was just another morning as dawn broke through the darkness of night. I stood on the back deck of the home I purchased the month before in Athlone, Ireland looking out over the gardens thinking that I was only 3,591 miles away from Chicago but in reality it felt as if I was a million miles away. I had left Chicago the morning after the twins christening at Old St. Pat's Church. Before we left I told Jay I was only going to be gone for two weeks but between finding two hotels I wanted to buy and needing to once again get away from the drama and chaos at home, the two weeks has extended to two months. I Skype with him three times a week so the twins will recognize him when we go back to Chicago. He pretty much doesn't acknowledge me during those calls. He primarily talks to Aiden and Quinn. The only time he addresses me is to ask questions about them. He was not happy when I told him we wouldn't be back for Thanksgiving. I had invited him to Ireland but he declined the offer, and instead made a comment about Kelly being there. Kelly has come over twice to visit since I've been here. He adores the twins and they get so excited whenever they see him.

I know I truly have made a mess of things and I'm not sure how to make things better. I just tried calling and texting Jay again and didn't get a response. I know Jay's not happy about my relationship with Kelly, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure as to what that relationship really is. I don't love Kelly...not romantically. I adore him as a friend, but I don't feel the way he wants me to feel. I don't feel about him the way he feels about me. God knows I tried. I thought someone stable would be the best option for me and the twins, but I miss Jay. God I miss him so much.

I want him here with me. I want to see the house that he owns as well. I added his name to the deed when I bought the house. Just as I had added his name, months and months ago to the deeds of the homes in Chicago and Myrtle Beach. The house in Ireland is lovely. I decided on a location in between Galway and Dublin and the small town of Athlone was perfect. The house itself was too good of an offer to pass up and especially since I want to purchase two more hotels in Ireland I thought it would be good to have a base of operations. The bright & open entryway was gorgeous with hard wood floors and stained glass windows leading up the staircase that wrapped around heading up to the second floor. To the left of the entryway was a light color carpeted family room which ran the length of the house (from front to back). With its bay windows, overlooking the lush gardens, fireplace and cathedral ceiling I knew when I first saw it I would be spending lots of time in this room with the twins.

To the right of the entryway was a gorgeous formal dining room. The two crystal chandeliers with silver accents hanging down in the center of the room were exquisite. Six LED candles popped up out of the top of the chandeliers with the crystals hanging below. The three floor to ceiling windows looked out over a small garden on the other side of the house. The room was painted in a light blue and because I had loved the floor and mahogany trim when I first saw the house I bought a mahogany dining table to sit underneath the two chandeliers. The table sat ten. There were ten white chairs, four on each side of the table and one on each end, that added a sophisticated style to the room. The chairs featured a tall wingback design with button tufting, hardwood mahogany legs and leather-like vinyl upholstery over generously padded cushioning. The light gray and blue drapes allowed direct sunlight to stream into the room. The far wall held twelve black & white photos of some of my favorite places in Ireland and were set in white matting and white frames. The dark mahogany trim matched the color of the hardwood floor that ran throughout the room.

The spacious eat-in kitchen with its marble floor, had granite countertops, oak cabinets and stainless steel appliances. With plenty of counter and cabinet space I thought of all the wonderful meals I could cook here. There was a small room off the kitchen, which I turned into an office, and another half bath that completed the first floor. The french doors off the kitchen opened onto a deck that overlooked a decent size back yard.

The four bedrooms at the top of the staircase almost put the downstairs to shame. The master bedroom and private bathroom almost took up one entire side of the second floor of the house. The room, just like my bedroom in Chicago, was large enough for a king-size bed. The bathroom was even more impressive than my master bath in Chicago. Yes, there were the dual sinks but instead of a claw-footed bathtub there was a sunken jacuzzi tub with a stand up shower stall (with a large rain-style shower head plus a built in stone bench). The two bedrooms on the other side of the staircase are the children's bedrooms. Both were a good size and connected by a bathroom with dual sinks. The fourth bedroom on the second floor was Mary's bedroom. The house was gorgeous and somehow tied its modern interior without fully replacing the outer traditional Irish look of the house (the brick outside, the gardens, stained glass windows, etc).

From the outside, for all appearances, I'm sure my neighbors thought I had it all. Two beautiful children, a gorgeous home, a hot firefighter who showed up once a month, a Nanny and two bodyguards. O'Malley and Luis decided to stay on with me even though I told Uncle Paddy I was done with the family business. Surprisingly he took it better than I had expected. He told me he understood with everything I had been through in less than a year. But then reminded me I still needed to watch my back. The Cartel still had a price on my head. Hank, took the news well but I know he is disappointed. He really thought I would be the way for him to take down the Mob and the Mafia. It was getting too risky. I had to think about the kids and after my house in Chicago got raided by Erin and her team I couldn't risk that happening again.

 **KELLY'S P.O.V.**

As I stand here and look out the doors onto the back deck my heart breaks...it breaks for me and for Christine. I'm in love with her. I have been since I first met her at Molly's over a year and a half ago. The first time she smiled and looked at me with those Caribbean blue eyes of hers I was done. Then Halstead came into the picture. I figured it would pass and even after she got pregnant I still would have done anything for her. Now I would do anything for her and the twins. I know she doesn't love me. I can see it in the smile that doesn't totally light up her face. She tried, I believe that, but she's in love with Halstead. I don't know if he will ever forgive her for walking in on us the morning after the twins' welcome home party.

 **FLASHBACK**

 **KELLY'S P.O.V.**

After Christine told me I didn't have to apologize for kissing her and then pulled me down for another kiss I decided to show her how much I wanted her...how much I needed her...how much I loved her. I picked her up and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. I laid her on the bed and ran my hands through her hair as I pulled her mouth towards mine. "Kelly..." she whispered. "I'm not ready for this yet. I'm sorry. It's just been so overwhelming and so difficult. I can't...I'm just not ready." she said as tears that were once again caused by Halstead streamed down her face. I held her through the night, just happy to be with her. I woke up the next morning because I heard a noise. I looked up to see Jay standing in the doorway looking like someone had punched him in the stomach. The look of pain on his face, pain that was caused by what he thought had happened, could have been alleviated if I had just stopped him. Instead, I let him think that Christine and I had sex. I mean, I was shirtless in her bed and she was wrapped in my arms. He turned, without saying a word and left. When Christine woke up a short time later I told her that Jay had seen us. She automatically tried to contact him, but other than talking about the kids he didn't want anything to do with her.

 **PRESENT DAY**

 **KELLY'S P.O.V.**

Because of that morning he has barely spoken to her in two months. I knew she was hurting. I could see it. Yes, she did a good job in keeping up appearances but there was a spark in her eyes that was missing. She had also lost weight and had been sick over the past couple of days. I know the stress is eating at her, which is why I'm taking her and the twins back to Chicago today.

"Hey." I said as I walked out onto the back deck. "Hi." she replied. "I hope I didn't wake you. I was awake early and couldn't go back to sleep. Are you hungry? I can make some breakfast before the twins wake up and need to be fed." "I'm good. Christine, we need to talk. Everyone is worried about you. You're not yourself and I know it has to do with Jay and what happened. I've already talked to Luis, O'Malley and Mary. O'Malley contacted your pilots. We're flying back to Chicago this afternoon. We're scheduled to take off just before 4:00pm. That will put us in Chicago around 7:00pm local time." I told her. She looked at me in surprise and with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry Kelly. I'm sorry for everything." she said. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'll always love you but I would rather have you in my life as a friend than nothing else. I want you to be happy and if that means I need to have a talk with Halstead to set the record straight, then I will." I replied as I leaned over and kissed the top of her head before walking back in the house.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I don't know if going back to Chicago is the right option for me but I do know I couldn't keep the twins away from Jay forever. I didn't want to keep them away from him. I just don't know how to co-parent with him when my heart is broken. When my heart is broken and I'm ten weeks pregnant. I'm pretty sure I got pregnant the last night Jay and I were together. The night before Erin came to town. I took a test last week, before Kelly got here, and know that I need to schedule an appointment with my OB/GYN back in Chicago. It hasn't been an easy pregnancy so far and I have been sick more often than not. I was worried about the pregnancy and how Jay was going to handle the news.

Once I recovered from the news that we were going home, I asked Kelly to keep it quiet until the next morning. I wanted to surprise Jay by bringing the twins to the District the next morning. I quickly got the house closed up and we headed to the airport where the jet was fueled and ready to go. The nine and a half hour flight was thankfully relatively uneventful. I had the twins settled back home in their cribs by 9:00pm and I crawled into bed. The twins and I both slept for ten hours. The next morning I got ready while Mary bathed and fed them. I dressed in a pair of tight dark blue jeans tucked into my new knee high black suede boots and a black v-neck fitted sweater. My auburn hair, dried and styled to perfection with loose curls almost reached the middle of my back. My makeup, carefully applied, was subtle but definitely covered the bags under my eyes. I wore diamond stud earrings, a matching diamond pendant necklace and the birthstone bracelet Jay had given me. After I was dressed it was time to get the kids ready. I dressed Aiden in a pair of jeans, a black long sleeve Harley-Davidson shirt with red and black sneakers. Where most babies lose their hair after being born, Aiden's started growing like crazy. He now had just as much hair as his sister, the same color as mine and Quinn's, but he had his Dad's beautiful green eyes. I put him in the pack-n-play and then picked up Quinn to get her dressed. Her blue eyes, the same shade as mine, looked at me and seemed to be searching my soul. It's almost like she could sense my nerves. I put her in a dress of purple, black and white stripes with black leggings and black shoes. Her auburn curly hair was held back by a purple head band. I never could keep shoes on either one of my children but wanted to try to pretend I could dress them.

With O'Malley in the passenger seat I made the drive the twenty-five minute drive to the District. Trudy wasn't at the desk. I was told she took the day after Thanksgiving off every year to go do her Black Friday shopping so they were going to have to call up to Hank's office before letting me go up. As the Desk Sargent picked up the phone Sean Roman walked through the front door. After telling the Sargent he would take me upstairs, he scanned his palm and I followed him through the gate with a twin on each arm. "Hey. Jay. You have a visitor." Sean said to which Jay replied, without looking up and in a nasty tone, "I thought I told you last week it's Detective Halstead." The bullpen went really quiet when everyone else looked up to see who was standing next to Roman. "I don't know kids. I don't think we came to visit Daddy on the best day. He sounds kind of grumpy." I said when I made it to the top of the stairs in that I'm-talking-to-a-baby-and-they-don't-understand-what-I'm-saying-but-I-want-them- to-smile tone of voice. The tone makes both Aiden and Quinn laugh...a sound that always makes me smile. "Hi." I said walking over to him noticing how shocked and happy he was to see his children. "Which one do you want first?" I asked. "How do I choose?" he asked, and that's when I realized because of my actions, his children had pretty much become strangers to him since they left the hospital. "Well thankfully, our children are pretty smart and at only 4 ½ months they will kind of hold their arms out to you. Just say want to come to Daddy and see which one puts their arms out. My guess is it will be Quinn." I told him. Jay followed my lead and it was Quinn who went straight to her Dad. It took every ounce of control to not break down, cry and beg him for forgiveness on the spot.

"Is that the laughter of my Grandson I hear?" Hank asked walking out of his office to see Aiden being entertained by Ruzek and Atwater. "They've gotten so big." he said as he walked over to give me a hug. "Yes, they have. Seeing them on Skype doesn't really do them justice, does it?" I asked. "No, it doesn't." Jay replied with all sorts of accusations and anger in his voice. Quinn, noticing the temperature change in the room, automatically started to fuss and put her arms out for me. "You have to keep your tone as constant and pleasant as possible. They can pick up on tense situations." Hank told Jay as he intercepted Quinn and calmed her down. "So, I was wondering if the two of you would like to come over on Sunday. Family dinner at my place. The three of us and the kids. I thought I would cook and we could catch up. And it would give the two of you a chance to spend some time with the twins. Tho, you don't need an invite to do that. The door is always open Jay, whenever you want to stop by." I said. "I'll be there. What time?" Hank asked. "What about 4:00pm? Will give us some time before dinner." I replied. "What about you, Jay?" I asked. "Do you mind if I bring someone with me? I have someone I typically spend Sunday's with." he replied. "Ummm, sure that's fine. Is it anyone I know? I didn't realize you were involved with anyone." I said, having a even harder time trying to keep my shit together. Kim surely would have told me if Jay was seeing someone. Or Hank would have mentioned it when we Skyped or texted over the past two months. "I think the person he was referring to is me." I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. "Erin, I didn't realize you were still in Chicago." I said, wondering if anyone else heard my heart break into a million pieces.


	31. Blackmail (Part One)

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to write a review lately. It was wonderful to hear some of you look for the updates to this story daily! Now I know that Erin was a beloved character and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of crap for this chapter, but remember, everything is not always as it seems. This chapter is a little shorter than normal but I wanted to get it out this morning. Hoping to have the second part of "Blackmail" out later today or tomorrow at the latest. Enjoy!**

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 **FLASHBACK** **(2 MONTHS AGO)**

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

As I lay here in bed, in one of the guestrooms, I can't help but think how amazing of a mother Christine is to our twins. It was their first day home and she seemed so confident, so sure of herself. It was if she had been waiting for this moment her entire life. I, on the other hand, am not that confident yet but I'm definitely better than what I had been when Aiden and Quinn were first born. It was wonderful to be able to read to them in their rooms for the first time tonight before we put them down in their cribs. During the moment when we stood over Quinn's crib I thought I saw a look in Christine's eyes...a look I haven't seen in a few days...a look of love and lust. But after we walked out of the nursery Christine walked into the master bedroom and closed the door behind her.

I think I've already checked on Aiden and Quinn ten times tonight. Christine and I both have video baby monitors but I liked seeing them up close. As I try to come up with a plan to repair the damage I did to our relationship I can hear my phone buzzing. Looking at the clock I see it's 2:15am. That means it's most likely work, which is strange because I'm supposed to have the entire weekend off. I look at the text. It's from Erin. "Need to talk in person ASAP." I texted her back and told her I would be free for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon but needed to be home by 4:30pm. After agreeing to meet at 3:00pm at Umami Burger in the West Loop, I then went and checked on the twins one more time before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, as we fed the twins, I told Christine I had to go to work for a few hours but would be back before the party began. I felt bad. I had promised I would be here the entire weekend and I knew there was a lot going today but I needed to find out what Erin was up to. I left the house at 12:00pm and first headed to the District. I did have some paperwork to finish up on, so I wasn't telling an outright lie to Christine. I was just leaving out the part about meeting up with Erin. At 2:30pm I got back in my truck and went to meet Erin. She was already seated at a table when I arrived. I grabbed the menu and ordered a Manly Burger with Cheesy Tots and a beer. Erin decided on (after what seemed like 30 minutes) a Royale Burger with Tempura Onion Rings and a beer. After we ordered lunch and the waiter walked away from the table Erin began with "I'm moving back to Chicago. Wait...before you say anything please know I've been thinking about an offer I received months ago to head up an FBI Task Force here, in Chicago. After seeing you the other night and spending an amazing night with you I decided it is definitely the right move for me to make. You and I can be together again and find a way to coparent with Christine. Down the road hopefully we can add kids of our own into the mix. I was thinking after lunch today we can go look at apartments. What do you think?"

I looked at her in shock and couldn't help but wonder if she had suffered some sort of traumatic experience lately that was causing her to act so irrational...to act so much like Bunny, her Mother. "Erin, don't you remember when I told you the other night that I am in love with Christine? That's why I wouldn't have sex with you. I couldn't cheat on her. I'm not sure what's going on with you, Erin. You seem a little off...unbalanced almost...spiraling, almost how you were after Nadia's death. If you want to talk about this change I'd be happy to listen but Erin, if you decide to move back to Chicago don't do it for me. I plan on rebuilding my relationship with Christine. I wasn't going to tell you but I asked for her Dad's blessing. I'm going to propose to her by the end of the year. I'm sorry Erin but I'm not the one for you. And let's be honest, after the shit you pulled on Wednesday with that bogus warrant, Christine will never let you anywhere near the twins." I said trying to figure out what has caused Erin to go completely off the rails.

The conversation took a brief pause as the waiter returned to the table with our food and then brought us another round of drinks. I took that time to attempt to process what the hell was going on. I couldn't figure out why Erin would even consider moving back to Chicago. Why she would think I would leave Christine for her. I made it very clear from the moment she landed in Chicago that I was trying to protect my family. Even though Christine and I weren't married we were family...we had a family. I loved her and the twins more than I ever thought was possible to love. Maybe I should reach out to Voight. Yeah, he might be pissed at me right now but Erin was like a daughter to him and there is obviously something going on with her that he should probably know about. He could help her deal with whatever it is.

The sound of Erin's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Well Jay, I hate to point out when you're wrong but I'm going to. We did have sex on Tuesday night. You may have been drunk but it was still really good. I was a little disappointed that you didn't wake me up for another round of scrabble before you left on Wednesday morning. You look like you don't believe me. Well...hopefully this will refresh your memory." Erin said as she slid her phone across the table towards me. I hit play on the video that was pulled up and I watched in disbelief as it showed Erin and I having sex. Fuck! I knew I had been pretty wasted but even at my lowest I never blacked out to the extent where I didn't remember having sex. How much did I drink, I wondered to myself. There's only one reason I can think of that would case me not to remember and I didn't want to believe it was true. "What did you put in my drink Erin? Why would you drug me? What the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked the woman I once loved. The woman who had become a complete stranger in less than two years.

"I'll tell you what Jay, in order to keep the video between us I need you to agree to a couple of things. You agree to go apartment hunting with me today before we stop by Christine's party. I'll pretend to be sincere with my apology to her. The story will be that you convinced me that there is no future for us to be anything but friends. I'm not happy but I agreed. And I promised you that I would only go after the others, Paddy McGuire...Finn O'Doyle...Anthony DiStefano, and leave her out of my investigation. That should get me back into everyone's good graces. Kim might be a little difficult to convince but I'm sure she'll come around. Who knew she could be such a bitch? Now, if you're done eating why don't you pay the bill. There's an apartment I want to look at over on North Lake Shore Drive." Erin said.

What the fuck is going on, I wondered to myself for about the millionth time since I sat down at the table. Erin has to be in some sort of trouble to be acting this way. I looked at her, and in that moment, I saw a look of fear flash across her face so I decided to play along. I need to see where this leads and find out what's going on. I paid the bill and looked at my watch. It was already 5:30pm! I pulled out my phone to find two text messages from Christine. The first one was a picture of the twins with a caption that said "Hurry up and catch the bad guys Daddy. We miss you!" The second had been sent at 4:45pm and was not as pleasant as the first message. Christine was not happy that I wasn't there. Shit...

It had been a shit show when I walked into Christine's later that night with Erin by my side. I'm pretty sure I lost the respect of our friends and family when I did but I honestly didn't feel that I had any other choice. I need to find out why Erin was acting this way. I went back to Christine's later that night and saw her kissing Severide. I could have overlooked that but when I snuck out of Erin's hotel room early the next morning and went back to the house it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest when I saw Severide's arms around Christine. The pain was so strong that I doubled over. I guess Kim had been right. I had pushed Christine out of my arms and straight into the open arms of Kelly Severide.

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 **A/N: As I mentioned, things aren't always what they seem. Stay tuned for Part Two of Blackmail and things will come to light. I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter and please remember to follow the story to keep up with the updates!**


	32. Blackmail (Part Two)

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed Blackmail (Part One). As you'll see in Part Two, everything isn't as it always seems. Enjoy!**

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 **FLASHBACK (2 WEEKS AGO)**

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

"Halstead. In my office now!" I heard Hank yell from his desk. It was a Friday afternoon and I was just finishing up paperwork on the latest case we had just closed. "Doesn't sound like he's happy with you. How did you manage to fuck up this time, Halstead?" I heard Burgess say, in that voice. That voice that made me cringe. That voice that was filled with disgust, blame and distrust. Everyone knew she held me responsible for Christine extending her trip in Ireland. It's been almost a month and a half since she and the twins have been gone. "Burgess..." Ruzek said, trying to keep the peace. I ignored everyone and headed into Voight's office. I started to close the door behind me but before I could he yelled "Burgess! You too! In here now!" I sat down in one of the chairs across from Voight's desk as Burgess walked in slamming the door shut behind her. She took a seat, looked at Hank, then looked at me and the both of us grinned at each other.

"So, it's definitely apparent to everyone that Kim hates me. Good job Burgess. You have been a little brutal tho, so if you could reign it in slightly I would appreciate it. I don't know how much more I can take of being the bad guy." I said, smiling at her. "Hell no! If I let it up now it would mean I've gone soft and people would start to think I'm now on your side. Which I am but I'm not at the same time. I mean I am kinda mad at you but I know that it's not completely your fault Christine and the twins are still gone. I just wish we had something more to go on at this point." Burgess said looking at me and then at Voight. "Burgess, tonight is your weekly girl's night with Erin, right? See if you can get her to let you into her apartment. I'd like to get a bug planted in there. Just a small listening device. I truly believe someone is using her to get to Jay and Christine. Breaking apart their family is just part of the plan. I'm afraid it's going to lead to something bigger...something dangerous for everyone involved. Jay, you're still spending Sunday's with her...so let's turn this Sunday into a family dinner at my house. Maybe if we get her into another element, a place where she has always felt safe, then she will come clean. I know it's not easy for the two of you, most of the time, to pretend you really dislike each other but I don't want this operation known to anyone else. Especially anyone else in the Unit. The last thing I need is for all of you to be out getting a little drunk one night at Molly's and someone letting it slip. Burgess, check in with me tomorrow and let me know how tonight goes. Here's the device I want you to plant." Hank said, handing her the device before turning to me. "Jay, call her now. Set up Sunday dinner. Tell her it's mandatory every Sunday from now on. Let her know that I've accepted the two of you as a couple and want to mend fences. I expect to see the two of you at 5:00pm on Sunday." He said as he got up from his desk. He opened the door, and to keep up pretenses, said "That's it. I'm expecting the two of you to get your shit together. If you can't manage to work together then I will cut BOTH of you from this Unit and send you BOTH back down to patrol."

 **KIM'S P.O.V.**

I walked out of Hank's office and went to the Ladies Room. The great thing about currently being the only female in the Unit was most of the time there was no one else in the Ladies Room. I could finally smile as the door closed behind me. Even though we had worked on a difficult case for the past two weeks it has been a lot of fun to pretend to be at odds with Jay. I mean yes, I'm mad at him for calling Erin to begin with but I feel bad because of what he has been going through. I felt so bad the morning after the twins' welcome home party. He knocked on my door at 7:30am, after he found Christine in bed with Kelly Severide. Thankfully Adam had an early meeting with a C.I. and wasn't home. I looked at Jay and reminded him that if he kept pushing Christine away she was going to end up with Kelly.

Jay needed someone to talk to that day and he told me everything start to finish from the time he first contacted Erin to what she told him during lunch the day before. I was surprised he even told me about the video of him and Erin having sex. It was only the second time I've ever seen Jay cry. The first time was when we found Christine unconscious after she had been kidnapped...when we thought she was dying.

Christine called Jay after she woke up to explain that they did not have sex, but he was too hurt at first to hear it. Then after he and I finished talking, we decided to call Voight. There was something seriously wrong with Erin for her to be pulling shit like this. I left Adam a note saying I went for a run before heading to Voight's with Jay. The three of us came to the decision to not tell Christine what was going on. It was weird...whoever was behind what's going on with Erin had her move into Christine's old apartment. Hank, Jay and I couldn't figure out what was going on but Erin definitely hadn't been herself since showing up in Chicago. In case this was blowback from Christine's dealings with the Irish Mob or if it was blowback from the Italian Mafia we wanted to keep her safe. And safe, unfortunately, meant Jay had to hurt her enough to cause her to extend her stay in Ireland. With O'Malley and Luis watching over her I had no doubt that she and the twins would be safe. Not only that but I know Kelly had already been over there for ten days and would be going back over again for Thanksgiving.

I walked out of the restroom and texted Erin confirming girl's night. She said that we were still on and I suggested heading over to her place with Chinese Food and a couple of bottles of wine. I told her that it had been a long week and I wasn't 100% up for a night out at Molly's or any of our other local hangouts. She said that was fine and told me any time after 7:00pm worked for her. Erin was halfway through a bottle of Jameson when I showed up at 7:30pm. That's how I knew there was something definitely wrong with her. I asked her if she needed to talk about anything...I led her to believe that I thought she and Jay had a fight and that's why she was upset. She said no. She eventually excused herself after we ate and went to the bathroom. That's when I got to work and planted the bug Voight had given me.

I texted Hank the next morning to let him know the device had been planted in her living room. I attached it to the back of the tv and it was small enough that it shouldn't be seen. He told me that he appreciated it and to remember we were helping Erin, Jay and Christine so I wasn't betraying anyone. It was almost as if he knew I felt guilty about keeping all of this from Christine and being part of what was causing her so much pain.

 **HANK'S P.O.V.**

After Halstead and Burgess walked out of my office and the rest of the Unit left for the weekend I pulled out the bottle of whiskey I had in the credenza behind my desk and a glass. As I was pouring the glass, Al walked in. "So, what's the deal with you, Burgess and Halstead? I know that something is going on. It's not like you to tell me, Hank." he said as he sat down. I grabbed another glass out of the credenza and poured him two fingers of whiskey. I filled him in and he was just as confused as I was. Neither one of us could understand why Erin wouldn't have come to me. She has come to me with everything since she was a teenager. I told him my plan of having Halstead and Erin over to dinner on Sunday's from now on, hoping that in a safe environment she will open up to us. "Al, I need to get this fixed before Christine comes back from Ireland. Which, in the last Skype call we had, she said it might not be before the end of the year. God, I miss her and those two kids. I can tell they're getting big. They need to be back here with their father...with their family...with the people who love them. Christine doesn't look good either. She looks like she's lost more weight and there are major bags under her eyes. I'm thinking about having Connor reach out to her thru Skype so he can get a look at her as well. I really don't know how to help anyone at this point."

 **PRESENT DAY**

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

"Hey. Jay. You have a visitor." I heard Sean Roman say to me. I was pissed at him and the world in general, but specifically with him because he lost a suspect we were chasing this morning. As a result, it was going to extend this case another week or so. Without looking up and in probably what was an ornery tone, I replied "I thought I told you it's Detective Halstead." I noticed the bullpen went really quiet as everyone else looked up to see who was standing next to Roman. "I don't know kids. I don't think we came to visit Daddy on the best day. He sounds kind of grumpy." I heard a voice say. A voice that was my favorite voice in the world. I looked up in disbelief to see Christine holding the twins at the top of the stairs.

"Hi." she said walking over to me. "Which one do you want first?" she asked. "How do I choose?" I asked her in return, extremely unsure of what to do. I've had very little up close and personal interaction with the twins, other than over Skype, since they left the hospital over two and a half months ago. "Well thankfully, our children are pretty smart and at only 4 ½ months they will kind of hold their arms out to you. Just say want to come to Daddy and see which one puts their arms out. My guess is it will be Quinn." she told me. I followed her suggestion and she was right. Quinn, smiled and put her arms out to me. My little girl looked just like her Mother. Her mother, the woman I loved, whose forgiveness I wanted to beg right then and there. But I couldn't...there was too much riding on what we've been trying to accomplish in order to keep Christine safe. However, I didn't think she would ever forgive me when she asked Hank and I over for a family dinner on Sunday and Erin announced her presence. Shit, not sure how this one was going to play out. Christine's face looked like she was about to cry. I didn't want that. I didn't want to be the reason she ever cried again.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I heard Erin's voice coming from behind me. What the fuck, was all I could think. It never occurred to me she would still be in Chicago two months later. Before anyone could say a word, Hank handed Quinn over to Kim and took me into his office closing the door behind me. "Why didn't you tell me Hank? Why wouldn't Kim have told me? Why didn't anyone tell me? I feel like such an idiot. Here I was ready to beg Jay for forgiveness and Erin is still here and he wants to bring her to dinner at my house?" I asked, agitation evident in my voice. He didn't answer my question but instead turned around in his chair and opened the bottom right drawer of his credenza to pull out a bottle of whiskey and a glass. He poured a glass and pushed it across the desk in my direction, but I shook my head as tears rolled down my face. "I can't." I whispered. I reached into my bag, pulled out the pregnancy test and held it in the palm of my hand. He looked at me, looked at the test and then asked "How far along?" "I think just about ten weeks. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. It's not Kelly's, if that's what you're thinking." I said. "I never would have assumed it was Severide's. He actually called me this morning to tell me you were back and let me know that he was concerned about you. He planned on dragging you to see a doctor if I couldn't convince you to go on your own. He hasn't always been my favorite person, but he loves you, and although he knows you don't feel the same way he is still ready to go above and beyond for you." Hank told me. Before we could say anything else, the door opened and Jay walked in with Kim right behind him.

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

I really wanted to be open and honest with Christine. Before anyone could say a word, Hank grabbed Christine by the elbow and lead her into his office leaving the twins in the care of Kim and Ruzek. Probably because he thought if I had one of my children in my arms that would give Erin access to them and that would cause Christine to freak the fuck out. Not that I could blame her. I sat there for a few minutes, not knowing what to do. I got up from my desk, went and picked up Aiden out of Ruzek's arms and told Kim, who was still holding Quinn, to follow me. I was putting an end to this right now. Kim silently followed me into Voight's office and shut the door.

I looked to see Christine's beautiful eyes filled with tears and a stick sitting in her open palm. A stick that looked like a pregnancy test. A stick that, I could tell from where I was standing, showed two pink lines. Christine was pregnant. It had been so long since we had sex I automatically assumed that Severide was the father. Jesus, I was too late. I've made such a mess of my life and hers. Because I've been so stupid and have gone about everything the wrong way she made a decision about her future and apparently that future included Severide. "You're pregnant? I guess I should be offering you and Severide all my best and saying congrats, but I can't do that." I said turning to walk out the door. Before I took two steps her voice, barely above a whisper, said "The baby isn't Kelly's. I've never had sex with him Jay. By all calculations I'm ten weeks pregnant. That would make you the father. I'm going to the doctor's this afternoon for my first appointment."

"Holy shit!" Kim exclaimed. "Sorry, forgot there were little ones in the room. Uh, maybe I should just take them into the bullpen, for now? Or down to see Platt?" she asked looking at Voight. After covering the stick with a piece of paper, Voight opened the door. He called Ruzek to come into the office. "I want the two of you to take the twins down to see Platt. Keep them down there until either Jay, Christine or I come down. Not a word to anyone. No one but the two of you and Platt is to go near those kids. Understand? Good, now go." he instructed.

I sat down in shock, looking at the test and looking at Christine. Our twins weren't even 5 months old and she was pregnant again? With my child? I wasn't sure what to think...what to believe...how to protect her...how to protect the twins and our unborn child. If it really was my child. I can't help but think it might be Severide's. It just seems that Christine coming back from Ireland, pregnant, is a little too neatly wrapped up in a bow. I don't know if I can really demand a DNA test. I don't know what to do, but I do know that she needs to know the truth. She needs to know what Hank, Kim and I have been working on. "Hank, we need to tell her the truth." I said.

* * *

 **A/N: S**t's about to really hit the fan in the next chapter when decisions need to be made and sides need to be taken. Will Jay, Kim & Hank's actions send Christine and the twins back to Ireland? What's going to happen when complications with the pregnancy arise? Will Erin finally come clean about why she has been acting like her crazy-ass mother? Stay tuned to find out! As always, remember to follow the story so you receive alerts when I post a new chapter. **


	33. Blackmail Leads To Unanswered Questions

**CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

"The truth about what? What are you talking about?" I asked. Hank turned to Jay and told him not here and not now. He would take me to lunch and then to my Doctor's appointment. He would talk to me then and Jay should plan on stopping by my house after work to spend time with the twins. The three of us walked out of Hank's office and I stopped when I saw Erin sitting on Jay's desk talking to Antonio. I noticed two things. There was a diamond on the ring finger of her left hand and the picture of Jay and I with the twins was no longer in the frame on his desk. There was a picture of him and Erin on his desk. I think my heart literally broke at that point.

Hank, who was behind me, gave me a little nudge to keep going. I couldn't look at anyone other than Erin. Sitting on Jay's desk, wearing a ring given to her by Jay, I'm guessing. I wanted to slap the smug look off her face. "See you at family dinner on Sunday, Christine. I'm looking forward to it." she said presumptuously. I once again stopped. "Erin, I will remind you of what I told you the last time I saw you. Unless you have a search warrant you are not welcome in my home. That also includes being anywhere on my property. Stay away from me and from my children." I said. Without looking back I walked down the stairs to get the two people who brought the most joy into my life, the twins.

"Hank I don't have time for lunch before the doctor's. I need to go drop the twins off to Mary at home and then head to Chicago Med for my appointment." I said as I got the twins from Adam and Kim. "Trudy, it's good to see you. I thought you were off today. That's what they told me when I came in." I said to the Desk Sargent. "I was but needed to come in and cover the afternoon. I got my shopping done relatively early and may have even picked up a Christmas gift or two for my favorite twins." she said as she smiled. Hank then told me he was going to follow me home and would drive me to my Doctor's appointment so he and I could talk afterwards.

I had to see both my OB/GYN and Connor. Upon learning I was pregnant my OB/GYN called Connor to discuss the pregnancy and how it would affect my heart condition due to the valve he had put in. Connor was very upfront in saying that normally he recommends women who have had the same valve replacement surgery I had not get pregnant due to the risk it could cause for the pregnant woman and the unborn child. I knew at that point he was going to once again say I should terminate the pregnancy which would break my heart. I looked at him with tears in my eyes as he said those words to me. Not knowing that Jay didn't believe the baby was his I told Connor and Dr. Shaw, "I can't make that decision without speaking to Jay first. It's not fair to him, for me to make that decision on my own." "Is Jay here?" Connor asked. I told him no, but Hank was in the waiting room. Connor left the room to go tell Hank to call Jay.

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

I ended the call from Hank in complete shock. Without saying a word to anyone I grabbed my keys and headed downstairs. "Jay..." I heard Erin call. I'm done with this. Whatever this blackmail situation is all about, I'm over it. It doesn't matter anymore. Christine was over 10 weeks pregnant with my child and was just told that she should terminate the pregnancy. This was the woman I loved, the mother of my children and I have wasted so much time being stupid. Hank, Kim and I could figure out another way to find out what was going on with Erin. I needed to be there to support Christine and be with my family...with our family.

"Where is she?" I asked Hank and O'Malley as I rushed into the doctor's office. After being told what room she was in I took a deep breath and walked down the hall in the direction of the exam rooms. I didn't bother knocking on the closed door...I just opened it and went inside. "Hey." I said softly walking over to where she laid curled up in a ball on the exam table. She looked so small...so vulnerable...so sad...so broken. "Jay, I'm so sorry. I don't know what to do." she said as she sat up. I could tell she had been crying. I sat next to her, took her in my arms and said, "Christine, you have nothing to be sorry for. We have a lot to talk about later. Trust me, a lot to talk about. Now, tell me what's happening here. Hank told me a little. Connor recommends terminating the pregnancy. How is that done? Are they going to do some sort of procedure today?" She looked at me and told me that she had informed Connor and her OB/GYN, Dr. Shaw, that she wasn't going to terminate the pregnancy. "Jay, the baby has a healthy heartbeat. I'm determined to carry this baby full term. Why should I terminate the pregnancy now? I know I can do it. Connor and Dr. Shaw were waiting for you to get here before they discuss all options with us." she said. "Christine, I'm not willing to risk your life. Don't get me wrong, I would love to give Aiden and Quinn a little brother or sister, but I can't lose you. I need you in my life. They need you in their life. If Connor recommends it then you need to listen to him." I said.

 **CONNOR'S P.O.V.**

As Dr. Shaw and I approached the exam room we had left Christine in, I could hear raised voices. Oh no, I thought to myself. Obviously, Jay was not happy with whatever Christine told him. "Maybe we should give them a minute." Dr. Shaw said. I suggested she go call Dr. Manning and ask her to join us if she was available. She went to try to find Nat while I headed into the room to play referee between Christine and Jay.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

Jay was mad, worried and freaking out. I could tell but as we listened to what Connor and Dr. Shaw were saying I felt hopeful. Even Nat said if I could carry to a minimum of thirty-two weeks there should be no reason why the baby wouldn't be healthy. If I stayed with my regimen of meds and kept up with my appointments to see Connor and Dr. Shaw then they didn't see a reason why I wouldn't have a normal, healthy pregnancy. They were still very concerned but said I could carry full term and deliver a healthy baby! I could still see the hesitation in Jay's eyes but I was determined to have this baby.

After the appointment was over Jay said he had to go back to the District. He gave me a quick kiss and left me with Hank and O'Malley. I was confused, really confused. Jay had talked about giving the twins a little brother or sister...was that with me or with Erin? Why did he kiss me? What is going on? I feel like I'm living in a fucked-up world at the moment. On the drive back to my house Hank filled me in on the blackmail situation. I don't know what to think or what to believe. This has been going on for two and a half months. How have they not gotten to the bottom of this? Why did Jay have to propose to Erin? Why did he take the pictures of the twins off his desk? Why was Jay living with Erin? Was he having sex, making love, to her every night? Where did that leave us? Where did that leave my kids? How long was this charade going to continue for? Until after Jay and Erin walked down the aisle? Who was behind this? Who did I wrong over the past 11 months? Was it the Cartel? Was it El Gato? Was it Ramon? Was it the Italians? Was it my Uncle Paddy? Was it Hank? Was it actually Erin who was behind this? Were they wrong in assuming someone was forcing her to do this? Why did they want me to suffer so much? Why do they want to keep ripping my family apart?

I could feel my heart start to race and pressure rise in my chest. It felt like someone was stepping on my chest trying to prevent me from breathing. I started having trouble breathing. I grabbed the bottle of water and I dropped it, spilling water all over me. I couldn't see straight. I was seeing spots. I could hear Hank and O'Malley yelling my name but I couldn't speak. I heard Hank yell at O'Malley to drive back to Chicago Med. It became too much to handle. Everything hurts I tried to say but I couldn't. Help me I wanted to shout as my eyes rolled back in my head. Help my baby I wanted to shout. I don't want to die. I want Jay and my babies. When was this cycle going to stop I wondered as everything went numb...numb and then black.

* * *

 **A/N: Could this finally be Christine's breaking point? Maybe it has all become too much for her to handle? Will Jay and Hank finally stand up for her and stand up to Erin? Stay tuned to find out...**


	34. A Broken Family

**FLASHBACK**

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

Two hours later, once Voight finally called me, I rushed through the doors of Chicago Med's E.D. and saw Hank with tears in his eyes, talking to my brother. O'Malley was leaning against the wall looking like someone had just told him that his dog died. Please God, let her be alive I thought to myself. Will noticed me at the same time O'Malley did. "You did this! This is your fault! If you had just gone along with Hank and Christine's plan none of this would have happened. But no, you had to call in the Feds and you broke Christine's heart in the process. Do you have any idea as to what you've put her through over the past two and a half months? If it wasn't for the twins she wouldn't have survived as long as she did. But this is it. I'm holding you fully responsible!" the Irish giant yelled as he approached me. Before I could say a word, he turned to Hank and said, "Tell him Voight. Tell him now before more harm is done." Voight turned to my brother and asked, "Doc is there a room we can use?" "What the fuck is going on? I don't want to go anywhere with you. I want to see Christine now." I replied, worried and confused.

After being told I didn't have a choice I followed Will, Hank and O'Malley into one of the Chicago Med conference rooms. It was one of the rooms they use to deliver bad news to the families of patients. Jesus, are they going to tell me she died, I wondered. "Halstead, I would like to introduce you to Special Agent Gavin O'Malley. Agent O'Malley has been undercover trying to bring down Paddy McGuire and the Irish Mob for the past eighteen months. He was getting close to blowing Paddy's operation wide open when he was assigned to guard Christine. Probably would have been able to close the case by now if you didn't reach out to Erin. The case would have been closed and the Cartel, Mafia and Mob would have been out of both cities, Chicago and Boston. Life would have gone back to normal and you wouldn't have missed out on two and a half months of your children's lives." Hank said. "Look Sarge, no disrespect, but I'm not playing the blame game right now. Where is Christine? I need to see her. I need to know she's okay." I replied.

"Jay..." Will started drawing my attention to him. "Christine has requested you not have access to her room. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but she lost the baby. The stress of what has been happening lately was too much for her to handle. She has told Ms. Goodwin that no one from Chicago P.D., including Sargent Voight, be given access to her room. I will tell you we did give her something to help her rest and she is currently sleeping. Why don't you and Voight take off and I'll notify you both if anything changes."

A pain like I have never experienced before in my life shot through me. My actions brought us to this point. I should have trusted Voight. As a result, Christine was grieving the loss of our unborn child by herself. "Where are the twins?" I asked. "They're at home with Mary and Luis. She told me you can spend the night at the house with them but you need to be gone by the time she arrives home tomorrow. She also asked me to remind you that Agent Lindsay is not allowed on her property." O'Malley said. "Why are you giving orders on her behalf? Does she know who you really are?" I asked, extremely agitated. After being told Christine and Hank both had known his true identity for a few months, I left the room without another word.

I drove straight to Christine's. After looking in on Aiden and Quinn, who both were asleep for the night in their cribs, I walked into the master bedroom and sat down. Only then did I let the tears fall. Tears for the child who wouldn't be born...tears for the child we wouldn't meet...tears for the pain I was feeling...tears for Christine's pain...tears for the months I had missed in the twins' lives. Things were going to change tomorrow I told myself, as I laid down on the bed.

 **PRESENT DAY**

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

"How could she have just disappeared? It's not like she could have gotten out of her crib on her own. It's been thirty-six hours Hank. Almost two full days since Quinn went missing in the middle of the night, when Christine was in the hospital. Who the fuck took my daughter?" I said as I paced back and forth between the living room and the kitchen. I was losing it but I didn't care. I had been woken early on Saturday morning by Mary's screams. I ran in the direction the screams were coming from to find Quinn's crib empty. When I managed to calm the Nanny down, she told me she had woken up and gone to change Aiden first, as she does every morning. She picked him up and carried him into Quinn's room only to find that Quinn wasn't there and the nursery was empty.

Christine could barely look at me as she sat on the couch. Her eyes had been filled with tears since she had returned home from the hospital yesterday. I know she holds me responsible. She refused to let anyone, including me, near Aiden. "It's payback. It has to be. I know it's the Cartel. This is on both of us Jay. But let me tell you, no one and I mean no one, will ever hurt my family ever again. I'm leaving Chicago once I get my baby girl back. This place has been nothing but toxic for the past eleven months. Hank, you need to get me in to see El Gato and Ramon at the MCC Federal Prison. I know they gave the order to kidnap Quinn." Christine said.

"I don't think we need to reach out to them just yet. I have a few leads the Unit is currently following up on. O'Malley wants to bring in his team as well. We will get her back." Voight told us. Before we could say anything else, Hank's phone buzzed. He checked his text and then crouched on the floor in front of Christine. He sighed and took her hand in his. "Christine, I just got a text from Erin. She's at the gate. She said she needs to talk to you. She said it's important." he told her. Christine looked at me. I told her I had no idea what Erin could possibly want. "Let her thru the gate." she told O'Malley. She handed Aiden to me and walked out the front door.

 **CHRSITINE'S P.O.V.**

"What do you want Erin?" I asked as I stepped onto the front porch, closing the door behind me. "I was hoping we could go inside, sit down and talk." she said. "That's not an option. The only reason you made it through the gate is because Hank seemed to think it's important. You will never step foot in my home, in any of my homes, ever again. So, unless this is about Quinn I have nothing else to say to you." I replied. "It is about your daughter. Christine, I know who has Quinn. Please, can we go inside?" she pleaded with me. I told her to wait there. I went back inside and picked Aiden up out of Jay's arms. I handed him to Mary, telling her and Luis to take him up to his nursery and to stay there until they were told it was okay to come back down by Jay, Hank or me. I then told O'Malley to escort Erin into the living room as I returned to my seat on the couch.

I sat between Hank and Jay. Erin followed O'Malley into the living room. "First I want to apologize for what you're going through and what you've gone through over the past two and a half months. I really need to apologize as well for the part I played in all of this. Yes, I'm still in love with Jay but I've come to realize he loves you, and only you, Christine. Probably more than you know. The two of you belong together. It's obvious to everyone who knows you both. Jay, I know you and Hank knew there was a reason for my irrational behavior but haven't figured out what it was. I'm not going to go into detail now but I will tell you I truly am sorry and I'm headed back to New York tonight. Basically, someone had me over a barrel. To get out of that situation I needed to come between the two of you. That person is the same one who arranged for Quinn's kidnapping. That person, Christine, is your Uncle. Paddy McGuire has Quinn. Not only does he have her but I believe he is taking her out of the country either tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm so sorry and I really hope everything works out for your family. Hank, I'll be in touch and we can talk about things in further detail then." she said before she turned and walked out of the house.

"Jay..." I whispered. I didn't want to believe what I had just been told but deep down I knew Erin had been telling the truth. "Paddy was never happy I wasn't 100% fully into running the family business. I think he knew I had my reservations and when I severed ties with the business before going to Ireland he wasn't overly thrilled. I never thought in a million years he would do something like this. It makes sense. Paddy referred Mary. She could have snuck Quinn out of the house. I'm going to kill her if I find out she was involved. What do we do now? Do we fly to Boston? What if Erin's right? What if we are too late and he has already left the country? I am going to end him for this." I said, my voice rising with each word I spoke.

"First things first. We talk to Mary. We get any information out of her we can. Then we go after Paddy. Christine, I think you need to have someone come stay with Aiden. We're going to have to travel and it will be safer for him here. Any ideas on who you want to stay with him?" Hank said. I looked at Jay and said, "I'm sorry for even suggesting it but he loves being with Kelly. What if I call Kelly and Gabby, since she is his Godmother? Kelly, Gabby and Matt can stay here with Aiden. I'll leave Luis with them as well." Jay looked hurt, but said he wanted to do whatever would be best for Aiden.

Hank, O'Malley and Jay went upstairs to talk to Mary while I called Kelly and Gabby. They were shocked when I told them and immediately agreed to come stay with Aiden. After saying I would see them in a little while I went upstairs to pack a bag. I lost it when I saw Hank leading Mary out of my office in handcuffs. "You bitch! You messed with the wrong family. I'm going to kill you! Where's my baby?" I screamed at her as I slapped her across the face. Jay pulled me back, down the hall and into my bedroom, as Hank and O'Malley took Mary downstairs.

"Christine, we know where Quinn is. Paddy is taking her to Ireland tonight. How quickly can you have your plane ready to go? If we leave tonight we will only be a few hours behind them. The four of us will leave tonight and hopefully be back home in a matter of days." he said. "Your count is a little off Halstead. Actually, there's seven of us going." a voice from the doorway surprised both of us. We turned to see Kim, Adam and Kevin standing there. "Al, Antonio and Rixton are going to hold down the fort for a few days." Atwater said.

I asked them to give me a minute with Jay and requested they send Hank back up. When he came up, after turning custody of Mary over to Al and Rixton, I told them I needed to go after Paddy myself. "I can't have any of you come with me over there. If you come with me then you'll have to arrest me. I don't plan on bringing Paddy back with Quinn and me. Not only is he dead to me but he is going to die for everything he has done. It's the only way the twins will be safe. Won't be the first time I killed someone to protect my children." I said, thinking back to when I killed Hailey.

"That's the exact reason why we are all going. You shouldn't be the one who has to pull the trigger. I don't want you to carry that weight with you for the rest of your life. It's different when that person is family." Hank told me. "I'll give the two of you a few minutes alone. I'm going to run home and grab a few things. I'll meet you at the hanger at O'Hare in an hour. Our family might be hurting and seem broken right now but we are going to fix that by getting our girl back." Hank said before walking out of my bedroom.

"Christine, he's right. We need to listen to him on this one. When we get back though we need to take a few days, the two of us and the twins, and spend some time together as a family. No outside influences. Just the four of us. We need that time with each other and the twins need that time with us. I love you Christine. You need to believe that. And you need to believe we are going to get Quinn back." Jay told me.

In that moment, as we sat on my bed, I broke. I couldn't stop sobbing. I was so afraid I would never see my baby girl again. "Jay, we need to get her back." I said a few minutes later as the sobs subsided. "We will. I promise." he told me. Something inside of me snapped at that point. I got angry. He could see it on my face. I got up and grabbed two bags out of the hidden compartment in my closet. I tossed one of the bags to him. "What's this?" he asked as he opened it. "Your go bag. I put it together when I came home from the hospital...when you first moved in. This one has a phone charger in it. Now let's go get our daughter back." I replied as I reached for his hand. We walked downstairs hand in hand and after saying goodbye to our son, the six of us – O'Malley, Kevin, Adam, Kim, Jay and I – left to go meet Hank at O'Hare.

Within two hours of leaving my house we were airborne. I had a few things to get done before I could talk to anyone. I booked all of us rooms at The Hotel 30 – Galway. I then arranged for transportation to take us from the airport in Shannon to the hotel. I wasn't 100% sure where Paddy was but I had an idea. "O'Malley." I said quietly to get his attention. He got up and took a seat at the table directly across from where I was sitting. "Have you heard from any of your contacts? Has anyone seen Paddy yet?" I asked. "Not yet, but it's early still. Have may not have landed yet. I have people at the airport in Dublin as well as in Shannon on the lookout for him." he replied. "He's taking her to Athenrye. I can feel it. He's taking her to his house there. I've never been to it but from what I've been told it's a fortress." I told him. "I'll have some of my people check it out." he said as he got up from his seat and went back to his laptop.

Jay took the seat O'Malley had vacated and Hank sat in the seat next to Jay. I filled them in on my thoughts. "Al's trying to find a flight plan for whatever plane he would have chartered. He can't find anything under Paddy's name." Hank said. "Tell him to check under DiStefano or Brennan. It wouldn't surprise me if he pulled the Italians into this or used my name as a sick joke." I replied.

Within twenty minutes Hank had an e-mail from Al. Apparently, a plane had been chartered from Boston to Shannon under the name Christine DiStefano. It was scheduled to touch down in an hour. They would be arriving four hours before us. Enjoy those four hours asshole. I'm coming to end you, I thought to myself.


	35. Payback

**A/N: This chapter is a little longer than most I post. I wanted to close out the drama with Christine's Uncle, so I can focus on Jay and Christine's professional and and personal life, their family life, in the next few chapters. The next chapter will be much happier with Christmas and New Years approaching.**

* * *

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

The summons from my Uncle Paddy was waiting for me as we walked off the plane at 2:00am local time in Shannon, Ireland. The SUV's I arranged to take the seven of us from the airport to the hotel were waiting for us on the tarmac along with a black Mercedes sedan. The driver of the sedan got out of the car at the same time a tall redhead got out of the front passenger seat. "Ms. Brennan." the driver said to get my attention. "That's not a hotel vehicle. And the redhead is Joseph Donnelly, Paddy's second in command." I said to the others. Jay automatically put himself in front of me. I was quickly surrounded by the others as O'Malley said he would go check it out. Minutes later, after words were exchanged between him and Donnelly, O'Malley walked back over with an envelope in his hand. "For you, from Paddy." he said as he handed it to me. I opened the envelope and automatically recognized my Uncle's handwriting. I cleared my throat and read the letter out loud...

 _My Dearest Christine-_

 _You have been the light of my life since the day you were born. The only people who have loved you more than me are your parents. I have loved you as if you were my own. I would have given you the world. It has been, up until recently, one of my greatest pleasures in life, to watch you_ _grow into the business-savvy, intelligent, beautiful, confident and resourceful woman that you are today. However, you my darling niece, have broken my heart with your betrayal. You chose the side of the Detective over your own blood. Did you really think, little one, that you could single handedly take me down and take down the organization_ _I have built? You are a disgrace, and from this point forward, are disowned. You are no longer a member_ _of my family. As you once said to me in a text, and I quote, "I don't like being played tho_ _so_ _remember that. And remember what goes around comes around. Karma is a bitch." Well, Christine, this is your Karma...your fate...your punishment for betraying me. You need to choose...your father's life or your daughter's life. Now, I'm sure you don't believe me so walk over to the car. Once you see I'm telling the truth I expect to have your decision by 4:00pm this afternoon._

 _Your Broken-Hearted_ _Uncle-_

 _Paddy_

I dropped the envelop and letter as I pushed my way past Hank and Jay. I ran towards the Mercedes as fast as I could. I was frantic. He had my daughter and my father as hostages! "Christine! Wait! It could be a trap." I heard Jay yell as he sprinted after me across the tarmac. "Open the door now." I instructed the driver. He opened the door and moved aside giving way for Donnelly to reach in with one hand and pull my Dad out. He pointed his gun at my father as he moved him to the back of the car. I watched in disbelief as Paddy got out next holding Quinn in one arm and a gun in his other hand, pointing it at my baby.

"You're dead old man. Blood or not you are going to die for this. And if I'm not the one who gets to kill you believe me when I say I'm not going to stop the one who gets to pull the trigger. You taught me well over the years...maybe too well. Do me a favor, when you go to bed tonight, pray to God. This is your last chance to beg him for forgiveness for all of your sins. Now I'm going to walk over, kiss my daughter and hug my father. I'm unarmed so there's no reason for anyone to shoot." I said, stepping away from Jay and cautiously walking towards the Mercedes.

"Hi, baby girl. Hi, my beautiful Quinn. Your brother misses you very much. Daddy and I love you sweet girl." I said as I kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes. Her eyes that seemed to understand what I was telling her. I turned and walked over to my Dad. As I wrapped my arms around him I whispered, "I'm so sorry Daddy. I have a plan to get you and Quinn out of this. Watch over my baby and I'll see you in a few hours. I love you Dad." As I stepped back he smiled and said, "I love you baby girl." He then turned towards Jay and said, "You keep her safe, Jay."

I stood, shaking with anger and fear, as I watched Paddy drive away with Quinn and my Dad. "Christine..." Jay said as he reached for my hand. I was scared and I knew it showed, as I looked into his beautiful green eyes, but I had a plan. "I'm not going to need to make a choice Jay. I'm going to get both of them back. Trust me, we are going to get our daughter and my Dad back." I said. I turned back towards the group and said, "Let's head to the hotel. It's after 2:00am. We can get some sleep and regroup over breakfast before leaving for Paddy's. I'll fill you in on the plan then."

Seeing Quinn and my Dad, now knowing they were unharmed, actually gave me a bit of comfort. So much so that I fell asleep on the ride to the hotel. It was the first time I had slept since Friday. "Christine, baby, wake up. We're here." Jay said as we pulled up to the hotel's main entrance. We walked into the hotel and were immediately greeted by the night manager. The seven of us were escorted to our rooms on the eighth floor, the top floor, of the hotel. "Ms. Brennan and Mr. Halstead, you are in here." he said as he opened the door of our suite and handed me the keys. "Christine, I'll have two of my guys posted outside your room tonight. See you both in the morning." O'Malley said before he headed down the hall towards his room.

"I wasn't expecting to stay with you tonight." Jay said standing in the middle of the suite's living room looking just as lost, hurt and angry as I felt. "I need you with me. I need you to hold me and tell me it's going to be okay. I can't tell you my plan just yet, but I still need to hear you tell me it's going to work." I replied. And that's exactly what he did. He wrapped his arms around me and told me over and over again it was going to be okay until I fell asleep.

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

Christine and I crawled into bed and she immediately laid her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her while I reassured her that everything was going to be okay. When I was sure she was asleep I quietly got out of bed. I threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before walking out to the suite's living room, closing the bedroom door behind me. I texted Voight and O'Malley. I wanted to believe Christine knew what she was doing but I needed to put a back-up plan in place...incase anything went wrong. I needed assurances that we could get my girls out safely.

Minutes later there was a soft knock on the door. I opened it, letting Voight and O'Malley into the suite. "Thanks for coming. I know it's late." I said as we all sat down. "Look, I don't know what she's planning. She said she can't tell me just yet, but I'll be honest. I'm more than a little worried here. I'm downright scared shitless that something is going to go wrong when she walks into that house. There are too many variables...too many unknowns. We need to come up with a plan that gets Christine, Quinn and Christine's Dad out of there. Sarge, just as I wanted to that day at O'Hare, I'll sacrifice myself if it means keeping my girls safe. I mean it more now than ever." I said.

Before Voight could respond O'Malley informed us that he knew what Christine was planning. She was waiting to hear from someone before she knew if the plan could actually be put into place. "It's a good plan. It's actually pretty diabolical. She's learned a lot from Paddy over the years. Probably more than either one of them realizes. My suggestion would be to wait until 9:00am. If she doesn't have what she needs at that point then we put a plan of our own into place." he told us.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

I slept for four hours and automatically reached for my phone when I woke up. The text I had been hoping for had come in twenty minutes earlier. I got up and showered. Jay walked into the bathroom as I was stepping out of the shower. I asked him to text everyone asking them to come to the suite for breakfast at 9:00am. I straightened my hair and applied my makeup before getting dressed. I put on a pair of black skinny jeans, an oversized gray cable knit sweater and my gray suede knee-high boots. My Claddagh earrings along with the birthstone bracelet Jay had given me was the only jewelry I wore. I took one last look in the mirror before heading out to the suite's dining room, where the hotel's catering staff was setting up breakfast.

I sent a quick text and a few minutes later, as I grabbed a Diet Coke from the buffet, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and let Al Olinsky into the suite. "Did anyone see you or follow you from the airport? Was there any trouble in Chicago?" I asked. "Everything went according to plan. There were a few of Paddy's guys we took into custody but it's been arranged so they can't contact him. I think having us fly into Dublin and stay at your house for a few hours was the right call. You keep thinking this way and Voight's going to try to convince you to leave the hotel business and recruit you to join Intelligence." Al said. I smiled and told him to help himself to some breakfast.

"Al! What are you doing here?" Jay asked as he walked into the room. He looked at me without answering Jay's question. "You didn't tell him?" he asked. I haven't told anyone other than O'Malley. I didn't want to say anything until I got word that everyone was here." I replied. "Well it seems like now would be a good time to fill the rest of us in on what you've been up to." Hank said as he and the rest of the Unit entered the suite. "Why don't you all grab a plate of food. We can sit down and talk while you eat." I suggested. "We have a couple more people we're waiting for and then I think you'll understand my plan."

A few minutes later, O'Malley received a text. "They're here. My guys are bringing them thru the back and up the service elevator. The four will be watched in my suite and the three others will be in after making sure there are no issues." he told me. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. O'Malley got up to open it. He returned to the room followed by Antonio, Rixton and Erin Lindsay.

"What the fuck is going on here?" "Erin, what are you doing here?" "Someone needs to explain to me what Al, Erin, Dawson and Rixton are doing in Ireland!" "Who are the other four O'Malley mentioned?" "Christine, did you call Erin?" was all blurted out at the same time. But it was the last question, Kim's question, that I answered. "Yes. I called Erin and asked for her help. Before I explain Erin's involvement, as well as the rest of your Unit's involvement Hank, I need to tell you all about Paddy's family. The family most people doesn't know that he has. Years ago, back when I was a baby, Paddy married a woman from the neighborhood, named Melissa. Melissa was almost twenty years younger than Paddy and overly jealous. Jealous of the love he had for his sister Maureen, who was my mother. Hell, she was jealous of me, a baby, and the way Paddy adored me. Melissa finally got pregnant when I was five and gave birth to a boy, Michael Patrick McGuire. Melissa always thought having a child would change the love Paddy had for me, but she was wrong." I said. I then turned to O'Malley and asked him to bring in the others.

Minutes later the door opened and a woman of forty-five walked in followed by a twenty-five-year-old man, with the same color eyes as mine, who was holding the hands of three-year-old twins. "Let me introduce you to Paddy's wife, Melissa, my cousin Michael, who is Paddy's son, and Michael's twins Mikey and Mackenzie." I ignored Paddy's wife and looked at the man I hadn't seen in 14 years. "It's nice to see you Michael. Please know I hate the fact it's under these circumstances, but your father left me no choice when he kidnapped my 4 ½ month old daughter and my Dad. Hopefully Paddy is smart today and makes the right choice." I said to my cousin. "Christine, I haven't spoken to my Dad in two years. Not since the twins' mom died. I've held him responsible for the drugs she OD'd on. Please let them go." my cousin said. I looked at him, and hating myself, said "I'm sorry Michael, but I can't." I then asked O'Malley to have Michael and the twins escorted back his room.

"Melissa, I would say it's a pleasure to see you after all these years but I would be lying." I said to the woman I considered to be almost as evil as my Uncle. "It's Aunt Melissa, you spoiled brat. Seems that you still haven't learned any manners or etiquette in fourteen years. Oh, I've read all about you in the news. Still think you're better than everyone else." she snarled at me. "Oh, I'm definitely not spoiled. I've worked hard my entire life. My parents taught me all about hard work and not to expect things to be handed to me on a silver platter. But you never understood that which is why you were the one who convinced Anthony DiStefano to kidnap me when I was only sixteen. You hoped Paddy wouldn't pay the ransom and Anthony would have no choice but to kill me." I stopped when I saw the look of fear and shock on her face.

"Don't try to deny it. Oh, and don't worry I haven't told Paddy yet. But I'm willing to guess you're wondering how I found out. I had a very interesting conversation with Anthony's wife, Rosa, a few weeks ago. She caught Anthony cheating on her again and decided she had enough when she learned his mistress was pregnant. She filled me in on the details of my kidnapping. Your plan backfired tho because not only did Paddy pay the ransom but he was so paranoid someone would go after Michael that he sent the two of you into hiding. According to Rosa you went to Phoenix, then to San Diego and then to Chicago. It was easy enough to find you when I found out you were living in Chicago. Your family, Melissa, was always my way out of the mess your husband got me into. It's also the way out for Agent Lindsay as well. I've been looking for you since February. Detective Olinsky has as well. Turns out Al did some undercover work with the Feds back in the day and remembered meeting Paddy's wife. A wife no one has seen in years. When I got dragged into the business Al knew you and Michael were the leverage I needed. I just didn't think it would require me to use your grandchildren as bargaining chips. As I said to Michael, I really hope Paddy makes smart choices today in regards to saving your son and your grandchildren. As far as you're concerned Melissa, I really hope Paddy tells me that I can shoot you. Consider it payback for trying to have me killed when I was sixteen." I said. I then turned to O'Malley and asked him to take her back to the other room where Michael and the kids were.

After Melissa left the room and O'Malley returned I explained my plan to the group. "There will be two SUV's downstairs at 3:00pm. Al and Erin will take Michael and his twins in one SUV while O'Malley, Antonio and I take Melissa in the second SUV. That will put us at Paddy's by 3:30pm. I would like all of you to be in place by then. O'Malley will go over the best locations for all of you to be posted. Jay, they marked where you'll have the best vantage point to take a shot from if needed. Obviously, I don't want either of Michael's kids hurt. If anything happens, take out Donnelly first. Antonio has ear pieces for everyone, but please remember no one is to enter the house unless Al gives the word. I know I'm asking a lot of you and I can't tell you what it means that you're all here." I said.

After reviewing the maps and notes O'Malley's team put together Hank told me I had put together a good plan. "I just have one question. How are Erin, Al, Antonio and Rixton now part of this?" he asked.

 **FLASHBACK**

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

"Hello?" the voice I had come to despise said in greeting as she answered the phone. "Erin, it's Christine Brennan. Did you mean what you said earlier about being sorry? Because if you truly are, and you want to get out from Paddy's hold, I need you to do something for me. And it's going to require help." I said. Erin asked what I needed and before I could answer a voice from behind me spoke up, startling me. "Put her on speaker." Al told me with Antonio and Rixton standing behind him.

"Erin, you're now on speaker. Al, Antonio and Rixton are here. Look I don't know how much time I have because Jay, Hank and O'Malley are trying to get information from Mary, the Nanny, about Paddy's plans. We think she may know where he is taking Quinn. I'm going to need leverage to go up against Paddy. If I give you an address can you pick up, well basically kidnap, four people? Paddy has a family he has kept in hiding for years. I was able to get my hands on their address a few weeks ago. They're here in Chicago."

Before I could say more, Al jumped in to the conversation and grabbed my phone. "We'll scoop them up and bring them to wherever you are, if you can charter another plane. I've been looking for Melissa and Michael since February, ever since I found out what you did in order to keep Halstead safe. They're Paddy's weakness...his kryptonite...his breaking point. Erin, meet us at the District in an hour." Al said as he ended the call. "Thank you." I said to them. "We'll take care of it. Whatever you need we are in this together." Antonio replied.

 **PRESENT DAY**

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

I wasn't sure if O'Malley was right. Yeah, Christine's plan is absolutely diabolical but I was still worried. I didn't want her anywhere near that monster but deep down I knew this was the best option to get Quinn back. I wasn't happy that I wouldn't be in the house, to protect her and Quinn, but I would probably kill Paddy as soon as I first saw him for everything he has done.

I looked over to where she was talking to Hank. We only had five minutes before the rest of us have to leave. I moved closer to where they were standing and caught the end of their conversation. "Hank, if Paddy gets past me or if anything goes really sideways..." she couldn't finish as she got choked up. "I'll take care of it." he replied as he hugged her. "Love you Hank." I heard her say. "I love you too, kid." he replied.

She then walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my head down for a kiss. "Jay, I need you to know how much I love you. You and our children are everything to me. If anything should happen to me, just remember that. Be safe out there." she said as she kissed me again. "Al..." I said, as I choked up due to the fear that I just gotten her back but could now lose her forever. "Don't worry about it Jay. I have her back." he replied. I then looked down at Christine, who still had her arms wrapped around me. "I love you. I'll see you soon." I told her before kissing her one last time and walking out the door.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

Forty-five minutes later the rest of us drove thru the gate and up the drive leading to Paddy's castle. Antonio took Melissa by the arm, while O'Malley grabbed my cousin Michael. Al and Erin each held one of Michael's twins.

The front door opened as we approached and Donnelly stepped out. He looked at me in horror when he saw who I had with me. He looked behind him and then back at us. He put his hands up as he walked towards me. Atwater seemed to appear out of thin air and removed the gun Donnelly had tucked into his holster. "I don't want any part of what's going to happen when you see what went down inside and when Paddy sees who you have with you. He thinks he has already won. He doesn't realize the second you walk in that room he is dead. Be careful though, he is armed." he said as Atwater lead him away.

I looked at Al as Donnelly's words were processed by my brain. Something happened inside the house. "Let's go." I said as I pulled my gun, the gun given to me years ago by Paddy, out of the back of my jeans. I felt my heart begin to race as we approached the study. We walked into the room and my eyes filled with tears as I saw my Dad with a bullet hole in his chest bleeding on the floor. "Daddy!" I screamed as I rushed to his side. He was unresponsive and I couldn't find a pulse. My father was dead. "What the fuck did you do?" I asked as I got up.

Paddy was seated behind his desk with a crying Quinn on his lap with one hand and a gun in the other hand. His smirk turned to a look of fear as I grabbed Melissa, out of Antonio's hold, and knocked her to her knees. I told Erin to give me Mackenzie. I took the three-year-old in my arms and I turned to Paddy. Mimicking the smirk, he had on his face a minute before, I pointed the gun at Melissa and said "Your choice. Your wife or your granddaughter? You have sixty seconds to decide or I will make the decision for you." "You wouldn't. You're not that person." he said. "Apparently, I am. You made me this person. This is who you wanted me to be...a monster like you. Erin, go get Quinn and bring her outside to Kim. You will let go of my daughter right now, old man or I will kill your wife AND your granddaughter right now." I said, in such a cold tone, that no one believed I was bluffing. I didn't move or breathe until I heard, in my ear piece, that Quinn was safe with Kim and on her way back to the hotel. I then handed Mackenzie to her father and motioned for Al to do the same with Mikey. "I'm sorry." I whispered to Michael before Al told him to take his children outside.

"Christine, this isn't you. You're a good person. Your Dad wouldn't want you to do this. He wouldn't want you to shoot Melissa or Paddy in cold blood. Why don't you give me your gun?" Al said in that soft calming voice of his. I shook my head with tears streaming down my face. I pulled out my ear piece. I didn't want to hear Hank or Jay's voices in my head as I tried to decide what to do next. I almost listened to Al until I heard Paddy laugh as he said "I won't be in jail forever little one. As soon as I get out I'm coming for you."

That made me freeze. I started to see red. He was threatening me and my family. I needed to end this now. I needed to protect my family. I pointed my gun at Paddy, who was being taken into custody by O'Malley, and prepared to pull the trigger as Jay walked into the room and stood next to me. "Christine, don't do it. It's not worth it. You are not a monster. I know you're hurting, but don't worry he will be in jail for the rest of his life. He will be convicted of murder, kidnapping and a bunch of other Federal charges. Babe, give me the gun and let's go see our daughter." he said. I lowered the gun and handed it to Jay. "Enjoy jail old man." I said, looking at my Uncle for the last time, as I turned and walked out of the room.

I made it out the front door of the house before I collapsed on the ground. "Jay, he killed my Dad." I sobbed as he picked me up in his arms. "Hank, can you drive?" I heard him ask. "What a mess." Hank said quietly before telling Jay he would drive us back to the hotel.

 **JAY'S P.O.V.**

We left O'Malley and Erin to deal with the local PD, since they were Feds. I didn't know what to do for Christine other than hold her in the back seat while she cried. She fell asleep before we got back to the hotel. "Antonio." I said softly. He turned around in the passenger seat and I told him to go up first and have Kim bring Quinn to her room. I know Christine wouldn't want Quinn, even as young as she was, to see her covered in blood. Her father's blood had dried on her hands and her sweater.

"Jay, she's in shock. Let her sleep for a bit longer. She'll be okay." Hank said from the doorway an hour later. I looked at Christine one last time and kissed her forever before following Hank out to the living room of the suite were my Unit and my daughter waited for me. "There's my girl!" I said as I walked over to where Burgess was seated with Quinn. She automatically put her arms out to me and smiled. "I knew she would be a Daddy's girl the first time I saw her in your arms." Christine said from the doorway.

 **CHRISTINE'S P.O.V.**

Three days later after giving my statement to the police we left Ireland. The rest of the Intelligence Unit and Erin had returned home two days before. O'Malley was traveling with us to Boston. He was going to interview new bodyguards for me, since I was still a hotel owner and because of insurance policies I was required to have round the clock protection. The four of us – O'Malley, Jay, Quinn and I – flew from Shannon to Boston. When we deplaned at Logan Airport I had the best surprise waiting for me. Hank was there with Aiden.

After a somber few days in Boston, for my Dad's wake and funeral, I was more than ready to head home to Chicago. Based on O'Malley's recommendations, along with the background checks he and Hank had both run, I hired three new bodyguards – Sully, JP and Smitty. As Jay and I boarded the plane with our twins, Hank and the three Irish hulks, as Jay called them, I started to think about what a crazy eleven and a half months it's been and the year wasn't over yet!


End file.
